Ex-Broward governor’s statue exits courthouse
Napoleon Bonaparte Broward has left the county courthouse.
The statue of the former Florida governor and Broward County namesake was removed overnight with little fanfare after concerns were raised about his segregationist views.
After criticism of the statue’s placement surfaced in September, the county moved quickly to quell any larger controversy.
Instead of treating the statue as a historical fixture, officials said it was like any other work of art on display and didn’t need any commission action to rotate it out of public view.
Assistant County Administrator Alphonso Jefferson said Thursday the statue has been moved to a storage area while its longterm future is determined. One possibility could include its placement in a museum, officials said.
The call to remove the statue came after defense lawyer Bill Gelin, who runs JAABlog, a Broward courthouse news and gossip website, published excerpts from Broward’s 1907 address to the state Legislature that critics described as racist. Gelin found the speech in a collection of documents and speeches published by the University of Florida in 2011.
In the address, Broward calls on the United States to create a separate country for blacks, a place where whites would not be allowed and from which blacks would not be able to return.
“The white people have no time to make excuses for the shortcomings of the negro,” Broward said in his speech.
Opponents of the move say it is just another attempt by liberals to be politically correct and sanitize history.