By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – During a nationwide reckoning over racism and slavery among our Founding Fathers and other historical figures’ racism and connections to slavery, the state removed statues of Pierre Menard and Sen. Stephen Douglas from the east lawn of the Capitol.

So the chair of the Illinois House Statues and Monuments Task Force, State Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) is not quick to sign on to a Douglas biographer’s request that the Douglas statue be moved back to the Capitol grounds after a year and a half away.

It’s 2022, says Flowers, and it’s time to glorify others. “This is a different era, and there have been other people who have done great things for the state of Illinois,” she says, “and they too deserve a chance to occupy that space.”

That said, Flowers said she would welcome author Reg Ankrom, whose works include two books on Douglas with a third in progress, to address her committee. Ankrom says Douglas never owned slaves, and to portray him as a racist tells only a small part of his story.

The final decision would be up to the board of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].