City: Controversial Hubbard Statue Must Move, But Where?

A statue of former mayor Orville Hubbard was installed in 1989 after a grassroots fundraising effort to honor a man who served as mayor for 36 years and led Dearborn through an important era for development. (Photo via Creative Commons)

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Dearborn city officials said Wednesday they’re interested in residents’ suggestions about what to do with a statue of a former mayor now that the space it occupies has tapped for private development, but made clear they’re not going to allow the edifice to be hijacked as “a symbol of a movement that sought to divide the United States.”

On Tuesday, the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee of Michigan called on the city council to remove the statue of Hubbard, an unapologetic segregationist who told The New York Times that integration opens the door for a “mongrel race” and bring about “the end of civilization.”

The civil rights group called the statue “a symbol of decades of racial segregation that brutally divided the men and women of both the Dearborn and Detroit communities” and said Hubbard used his “power to fuel racial antagonisms, preach white supremacy and maintain the color line at the Dearborn-Detroit border.”

Related:

• Group Seeks Removal of ‘Relic of Racism,’ Former Mayor’s Statue

In a statement, Dearborn Public Information Director Mary Laundroche said officials “don’t want the statue, installed in 1989 in honor of man who was last mayor 40 years ago, to become a distraction from the positive stories of our community today.”

The 10-foot bronze statue is installed at Michigan and Schaefer, on property formerly occupied by city administrative office but is being transformed into a live, work and exhibit artists’ hub and regional destination for visitors.

Laundroche said city officials have “already been thinking about the disposition of the statue, since it can’t stay at the City Hall property.”

The statue was created following a grassroots fundraising campaign, and included small donations from many residents who wanted to recognize Hubbard’s contributions to city services over his 36 years as mayor, Laundroche said.

Laundroche said it’s “not wrong” for local citizens to want to participate in a cultural shift taking place as Americans confront racism in the weeks since Dylann Roof allegedly murdered nine African-Americans studying the Bible at a South Carolina church. He was pictured brandishing a Confederate battle flag, rekindling a fierce, decades-long debate over whether the flag as a symbol of Southern pride or emblem of slavery and racism.

“Some people who cannot engage directly in the issue that has arisen in South Carolina want to be relevant by initiating similar discussions closer to home,” the statement read. “It is not wrong to raise the issue but it should be reviewed on its own and not treated as part of a very different situation.”

Laundroche said city officials intend to engage community members in determining a future plan for the statue that both “respects the intent of the donors and the persons who rightly challenge the potentially conflicting message it could represent.”