DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) - Crews have removed a statue of Orville Hubbard, Dearborn’s longest-serving mayor who favored segregationist policies and made racist comments over his 35-year tenure ending in 1977.
The sculpture was on the Dearborn Historical Museum’s grounds after its removal from the former City Hall campus in 2015. It was removed Friday and is with Hubbard’s family, according to city officials.
“The statue had been a divisive symbol rather than a unifying one,” Dearborn spokeswoman Mary Laundroche said in a statement. Moving it “is a positive development for our community.”
The removal comes in the wake of protests over racism and police brutality following George Floyd’s death. The demonstrations already sparked a new wave of Confederate memorial removals
Among other things Hubbard used racial slurs and said the mixing of races leads to the downfall of civilizations, according to The Detroit Free Press.
Hubbard’s late daughter, former Councilwoman Nancy Hubbard, defended him in 2015, telling the newspaper her father treated blacks and whites with the same respect.
He was credited with improving Dearborn’s recreation system and sanitation. Hubbard died in 1982. The statue, erected in 1989, was commissioned through a private campaign.
Councilwoman Leslie Herrick said Hubbard’s family was likely taking the statute to his Union City burial site.
Family members didn’t return messages from the Free Press or Detroit News.
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