Disney not best choice for state statue
In the FloridaHouse, RepublicanRep. Jose Felix Diaz of Miamiwants to replace one of the state’s two statues in theU.S. Capitol with a likeness ofMarjory Stoneman Douglas, the journalist and environmentalist whose1947 book, River of Grass, called to light the damage being done by draining the Everglades.
In the Florida Senate, Democrat Perry Thurston of Fort Lauderdalewould rather the replacement statue honorMary McLeod Bethune, an educator and civil rights leader who founded a private school for African-American students inDaytona Beach.
Either iconwould be an improvement over Edmund Kirby Smith, a Confederate generalwho briefly lived in Florida and whose statue has stood inNational Statuary Hall since1922.
ButRepublicanRep. Scott Plakon of Lakewood prefers a different choice. He would like a statue ofWalt Disney, the film animator and entrepreneur who created MickeyMouse and builtWalt DisneyWorld outside Orlando.
Because Plakon chairs a committee that must approve any such bill, he has the upper hand. And lastweek, he effectively killed the House bill by keeping it off the committee’s agenda. Thurston isn’t giving up, though. Other proceduralmoves, including amendments to other bills, could still make change happen.
Plakon told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board it’s not about Disney, though hewas hardly convincing. “It should be who impacted our state in the greatestway,” he said. “He impacted our economy in a profound way— our culture, our government. Our statewould be a dramatically different place ifWalt Disney had not had the vision tomove into our state.”
Rather, he says it’s about giving all 160 members of the Legislature a voice. But last year he opposed the process his colleagues chose to pick a replacement statue. Lawmakers agreed to ask a special committee of the state’s Great Floridians Programto seek public input and select three finalists.
The committee received hundreds of nominations and tabulated about 3,000 votes fromthe public before narrowing the choices to Bethune, the leading vote-getter; Douglas, the third place winner; and George Jenkins Jr., the founder of Publix grocery stores, who came in fourth.
JamesWeldon Johnson, the first AfricanAmerican admitted to the Florida Bar, received the second most votes, butwas not selected as a finalist.
Nobody filed a bill for a statue of Jenkins, however, leaving only the names of Douglas and Bethune towork theirway forward.
Douglas, who lived 90-plus years in Florida, is legendary. Whenshe died in1998 at 108, the Independent in London wrote that “in the history of the American environmentalmovement, there have been few more remarkable figures.”
Bethune, who lived in Florida the last 56 years of her life, was an adviser to three presidents. Whenshe died in 1955, theNewYork Times called her “one of the most potent factors in the growth of inter-racial goodwill in America.”
Disney, by contrast, never lived in Florida and placed10th in the public vote.
Every state gets two statues in theU.S. Capitol. Florida’s other statue is of John Gorrie, who lived here in the mid-1800s and was a pioneer of refrigeration. Without air conditioning, Floridawould not be what it is today.
Many lawmakers, including Diaz, say Smith, the Confederate general, should be replaced not because he served in the rebel army, but because he only briefly lived in Florida.
Itwould have been interesting towatch the Legislature reconcile the choice betweenDouglas and Bethune. If Plakon’s issuewas that the decisionwould be made behind closed doors in conference committee, followed by a floor vote in both chambers, he never said so.
It reminds us of 2008, when lawmakers decided the state needed a new song because the lyrics of “Old Folks atHome” were widely seen as racist. They held a contest and let the public vote on three finalists. In the end, unable to agree, the public’s choice became the state anthem and “Old Folks” remained the state song, with amended lyrics approved by the songwriter’s estate.
It’s not unusual for states to replace statues in the nation’s capital. So if lawmakers can’t pick between Douglas and Bethune, perhaps they could followa similar song sheet and pick twowomen to represent Florida. Then, they could place the statues of Smith, Gorrie and Disney, too— if someonewants to donate one— in the nice airconditioned lobby ofTallahassee’s Florida Historic CapitolMuseum.
Editorials are the opinion of the SunSentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page EditorRosemary O’Hara, AndrewAbramson, Elana Simms, Gary Stein and Editor-in-ChiefHoward Saltz.