Though the statue of Napoleon Bonaparte Broward once greeted visitors to the Ft. Lauderdale courthouse with a blank stare, the values communicated by those unseeing eyes were what prompted the figure’s removal on October 19, 2017.
At first glance, Broward’s biography appears like that of any other twentieth century historical figure. Having served as Florida’s 19th governor between 1905 and 1909, Broward was especially known for his efforts to drain the Everglades and develop land in Florida. Though Broward died in 1910, his legacy persisted through his namesake, Broward County, which was founded in 1915. While his accomplishments were clearly considered when his likeness took up residence in the Ft. Lauderdale courthouse, his racist ideologies seem to have slipped past as inconsequential information.
Today, this information is of far more concern. Back in September, Broward County lawyer Bill Glein published excerpts of controversial statements made by Broward on his Justice Advocacy Blog. The post served as a reminder that in Broward’s 1907 speech to the Florida legislature on race relations, which was published by the University of Florida in 2011, he recommends that the United States purchase territory to which its black population could be relocated.
“No cost should be considered, in a matter so fraught with the danger of injury, as is the existence of two races in the same country,” Broward said in his speech.
The statements were not just a matter of racial segregation; they also promoted white supremacy and a belief in the inferiority of other races.
“The white people have no time to make excuses for the shortcomings of the negro,” Broward said.
As of late, Americans have been thinking twice about memorializing advocates for the racially oppressive institutions that pollute the country’s past. In February of 2016, Charlottesville, Virginia’s city officials elected to eliminate a statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general who fought to preserve slavery in the Civil War, from a local park. Months later, torch-bearing white nationalists descended upon the park where the monument stood, protesting the decision as an erasure of their history.
The removal of such statues is not an attempt to cover up the past – rather, it is a gesture that admits to centuries of wrongdoing and seeks to quell such offensive beliefs to prevent them from regaining their foothold. While figures like Broward and Lee may have earned their place in history due to their high-profile positions, they have not earned a platform in the daily lives of modern American citizens.
It is true that such comments were once far more acceptable – however, the overarching historical context does not excuse Broward’s inhumane suggestions and values. As a nation still recovering from offenses such as slavery and segregation while also struggling to work through modern racism and its accompanying issues, the U.S. cannot afford to continue commemorating proponents of what they are trying to move forward from.
Prominently displayed in buildings of public importance, the statues are a continuous reminder to black Americans of the centuries of oppression that their race has endured, and their idolization encourages the persistence of ignorant beliefs. History books and museums are the proper locations for such harmful iconography, which should be preserved only for educational and archival purposes.
As empty pedestals begin to appear around the country, Americans should take a moment to consider whose history has actually gone unacknowledged and replace the statues accordingly.
Photo courtesy of Local 10
