It didn't take long after vandals defaced the statue of Andrew Jackson in front of the Jackson Coutny courthouse in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, for County Executive Frank White to call for its removal.
“Countless men, women and children come through the doors of our courthouses every day. And every day, racism and discrimination are staring them in the face," White said in a lengthy statement Thursday night.
The presence of the Jackson statues — both downtown, and another in front of the courthouse in Independence — makes some people feel unwelcome, White said.
"They are greeted by a man who owned hundreds of slaves, opposed the abolitionist movement and caused thousands of Native Americans to die when he forced them out of their homeland for white settlement," he said in his statement.
Two white men, both 25 years old, were arrested and detained, according to Kansas City Police, for defacing the statue.
What to do about the Jackson statues has been an issue for a long time that has come under renewed scrutiny amid the recent protest movement in Kansas City and around the nation.
In December, the county Legislature passed a resolution to create a plaque to put Jackson in historical context. The proposed language acknowledged Jackson as a slave owner and his role in the death of "an estimated one-quarter of the Cherokee Nation."
But it also said Jackson was a hero of the War of 1812, and the county was named by an act of the Missouri Legislature.
County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker helped drive the plaque idea.
"We believed last year that it was past time to acknowledge the racist history of Andrew Jackson. That’s why we pushed for placing a plaque on the statue," she said in a statement to KCUR.
Baker now says she also believes it is time for the statues to come down.
“The time has come to take it down because it’s a symbol of a past we must raze to build anew," she said in a statement to KCUR.
While it appears that a committee will be formed to hear public input, one county legislator is ready to take the Jackson statues down right now.
"I think there's an appetite for removing the Jackson statutes from downtown and from Independence," County Legislator Chrystal Williams said. "Jackson is not someone to emulate, and I don't think he's someone to hold up as an example."
Williams said they should even consider the idea of renaming the county itself.
"I believe that kind of conversation needs to happen when we're not in the middle of a pandemic," Williams told KCUR. "I think that that needs to be a measured and relatively long conversation."
Whatever happens next, it could be a clearer when the County Legislature meets Monday morning.
Copyright 2021 KCUR 89.3. To see more, visit KCUR 89.3. 9(MDA3OTgyNDI4MDEzMTM0MjQzMTZlNDI0Mg004))
