Local historian opposes removing racists’ names from Kansas City streets. Here’s why | Opinion
Erik Stafford is a historian and author from Kansas City. For years he has studied the ugly part of this city’s history — yet he is staunchly opposed to renaming Troost Avenue or any other street or monument that honors former slaves owners and bigots.
“When you remove all of that stuff, you’re removing history,” Stafford said.
He may be in the minority on this front — on second thought, he might not be. Efforts here to remove racists’ names from monuments and streets have come to a complete halt. Years after Kansas City stripped the name of noted bigot J.C. Nichols from a memorial fountain and street near the Country Club Plaza, some city officials have seemingly sidestepped the issue.
As a historian, Stafford strongly believes the only way we learn from the past is by studying it — on that point I agree. Removing the names of former slave owners from public spaces does everyone a disservice, he said.
I don’t agree. I remain partial to any effort that no longer honors people who participated in human bondage or supported white supremacy.
“When you start erasing stuff and acting like it never happened, how do you teach history?” Stafford said.
By telling the truth, that’s how. Unfortunately, the effort and momentum to rename Troost to Truth Avenue died at City Hall — thanks to Mayor Quinton Lucas’ refusal to get behind an ordinance that would have forced a City Council vote on the matter.
Stafford, founder and owner of KC Tour Company and blackhistorykc.com, knows a great deal about local history. He recently published a book called “Chasing After Freedom: Prophecies Fulfilled in the Scriptures.” In it, Stafford said he details how the Underground Railroad ran through Jackson County to Johnson County along the Blue River. He also writes about the migration of Black people to the Midwest and of Kansas City’s rich music history. He’ll host a book signing at 2 p.m. June 22 at Kansas City Public Library’s Central Library, 14 West 10th Street. If you’re a fan of local history, this is one event worth attending.
The one thing you won’t find him advocating for is street renaming, he said. He listed off several roads — Wornall was one of them — tied to human traffickers that have long been associated with Kansas City.
“These streets have been up a long time,” Stafford said. “Slavery was legal in Missouri. If you are going to denounce Troost, you should denounce Missouri.”
I denounce any effort to derail progress on this front.
In May, during a special committee for legal review meeting, Lucas and Councilmember Andrea Bough voted to hold a proposal off-docket that could have changed Troost to Truth — and this maneuver effectively killed the ordinance. It was the second time these two stopped those efforts — led by former Parks Board Commissioner Chris Goode and Third District Councilmember Melissa Robinson — in their tracks.
Troost, a Kansas City thoroughfare with a legacy rooted in slavery, was named after Dutch physician Benoist Troost. It isn’t the only such street in this city that honors racists but the prolonged fight to change it was probably the most profound.
Goode and his supporters did everything they were supposed to do legally to change the name including community engagement and buy-in and the approval of a majority of property owners along Troost. Yet, after almost three years of trying, nothing has changed.
“After three years of thorough engagement, Andrea Bough and Quinton Lucas chose to do nothing,” Goode wrote on Facebook in May. “In a room where the vast majority supported us, they kicked the tires again. It’s sad when people elected and paid by their constituency ignore that very constituency over and over.”
But for Stafford, leaving the name intact is an opportunity for Kansas City to learn from its past and not repeat these atrocities going forward.
“A general consensus — this is not just me — is to just tell the truth about it,” he said. “That’s how you heal, learn and get better. If you don’t know the history you won’t have a vision. Everybody’s truth isn’t the same and it’s very subjective.”
Stafford added the city should consider using resources needed to rename Troost for programs for youth to “encourage literacy and understand your community’s past,” he said.
Now that’s a suggestion that I hadn’t thought of that I could actually agree with.
This story was originally published June 3, 2025 at 5:08 AM.
