KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City councilwoman is calling for a plan to remove monuments and rename streets that honor figures who were slaveholders or racists.
Councilwoman Melissa Robinson of the 3rd District introduced a legislation that would establish a 12-member commission to research and make recommendations to the City Council for removal of monuments of those “that held slaves, promoted racism or participated in the oppression and dehumanization of others,” The Kansas City Star reported.
The commission must have one member from each of the six City Council districts, a historian, three members representing local civil rights groups, a religious scholar and a representative of an Indigenous group, according to the legislation.
Last month, the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners in Kansas City voted unanimously to remove J.C. Nichols’ name from the fountain and roadway on the Country Club Plaza that honored him.
Statues of President Andrew Jackson were also ordered to be removed from the county’s two courthouses in Kansas City and Independence.
“I hope that one day that Kansas City will get to a place of reconciliation within the community as it relates to repairing the relationship with African Americans, people of color, other groups that have been marginalized in the city,” Robinson said. “In order to do that, you have to reflect deeply on what does the repair look like and you have to be able to be innovative around how is it that we can address these things.”
Robinson said she did not have specific streets or monuments she wanted to see changed but many of Kansas City’s major streets, like Wornall Road, McGee Street and Troost Avenue, were named after slaveholders, according to The Star.
The legislation was referred to committee and is expected to be heard next week.
