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Dearborn's longest-serving mayor remains a polarizing figure 33 years after his death.
A statue of Orville Hubbard, a larger-than-life politician who served from 1942-78, is the focus of a commentary here Monday by Bill McGraw and a short follow-up about the statue's inclusion in a 1999 book about ""myths and misinformation" at historic sites nationwide.
Views about Hubbard are as strongly held and as divided as those about another local mayor who served multiple terms, comments on our site and social media show. "Hubbard is as much to blame as [Coleman] Young for the divide we have across metro Detroit," Steven Beaton of Wyandotte posts on our Facebook page.
David L. Good's 1989 biography is a historic collectible, with new hard-cover copies offered online at up to $498.
Below are more reactions by readers who revere and revile "the dictator of Dearborn," as biographer David L. Good, a Detroit News retiree, dubs him in the subtitle of a 1989 book from Wayne State University Press. (The 472-page hardback is now a historic collectible, with five unused copies listed at $245 to $498 by sellers on Amazon.)
► A racist leader is still being celebrated with a statue honoring him. -- Beverly M. Montgomery, Detroit
► That statue should go the way of the Saddam statue in Iraq -- pulled down and destroyed. -- Saleem Siddiqi, Lathrup Village
► I was proud to have such a great mayor and what he did for residents. After being gone 25 years, [I'm] back to live in Dearborn and still see his influence. He deserves to stay looking over us. -- Scott M. Kenney
► I have to see this bronzed racist every day on my way to work. #TakeItDown -- Matt Stiffler, Ann Arbor
► My mom lives in Hubbard Manor West. I cringe when I have to walk past a painting of this racist on my way to my mother's apartment. -- Steven Beaton, Wyandotte
► God bless our beloved mayor! -- Gerald M. Dunn
► This needs to be removed and the street named after him [Hubbard Drive] should be changed. -- Dawud Walid, Detroit
► We really haven't come that far. -- Lita Shipman, Inkster
► McGraw is getting us talking and learning some history. -- Deborah Kanter, Ann Arbor
► Let's pick on a decorated veteran who was beloved by generations of people for providing services second to none. By the way, Keep Dearborn Clean is still a mantra posted all over the city. Maybe our Democratic mayor [John] O'Rielly is a closet racist! -- Gary J. Trocino, Dearborn
► Orville was the gold standard for racist mayors. No other city comes close. -- A.L. Cadillac
► Not only was he a racist, but he was also an outspoken critic of the counter-culture "hippie" movement. Times change and his statue is a reminder of intolerant times. It should be in a closed environment. -- Howard Dembs, West Bloomfield
► My son, his dad and I went to have Easter dinner at a restaurant on Hubbard Drive. I was startled to see the street name. To a young person, that name means nothing and is innocuous. I do remember and told a bit to our son. Thankfully, Dearborn is changing and is much more diverse. -- Rosi Triano, Grosse Pointe
► Dearborn was a great city under his rule and was an embarrassment at the same time. -- Kathleen A. Fitzpatrick
► It's past history, for God's sake. It's time to live in the present and devote our efforts to the multitude of problems we face today. As the Beatles song said: "Let it be." -- Sisu Enterprises
► All of these "symbols" that people keep wanting removed should remain. They are all a reminder of our history and how far things have come. Removing the reminders of the past is like pretending it never happened, and that's not a good thing. We can't just shove unsavory pasts into a closet like they never existed and expect them to go away. We need to learn from mistakes, and in order to do so we need to know what those mistakes were." -- M.G.K.
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