Kansas Rep. Marvin Robinson fought for Quindaro, costing his constituents along the way

Looking north from the Quindaro Ruins Overlook: The Missouri River, with the slave state of Missouri to the east and the Free State of Kansas to the west. (C.J. Janovy/Kansas Reflector)

A “Pyrrhic Victory,” the final entry in the P section of “ Words On Words ” by the late University of Kansas journalism professor John Bremner , references “a victory that comes at too great a price.”

The reference explains the late state Rep. Marvin Robinson’s complicated time in the Kansas Legislature. Robinson fought tirelessly for his beloved Quindaro historical site, seemingly to the detriment of his constituents’ other interests.

Robinson, who died recently at age 67, sadly conflated devotion, which he had, and vision, which he seemed to lack.

Anyone interested in learning about or writing about Quindaro eventually found themselves in front of Robinson, the unofficial mascot and supporter of the area.

Quindaro has lost its most ardent advocate, but it remains a site of remarkable history and the foundation of what could be the next major tourist development in northeast Kansas.

University of Kansas professor Shawn Leigh Alexander described Quindaro as perhaps the best example of a multiracial democracy, as white Massachusetts abolitionists, Wyandot Indians, and freed Black men and women fleeing Missouri enslavement founded the site.

Others said that two founders of the Niagara Movement, the forerunner to the NAACP, had Quindaro addresses.

Quindaro also served as a stop on the Underground Railroad and has remained a point of pride in Kansas. Robinson served as one of its most recognizable boosters.

But as a legislator, Robinson disappointed many people by joining extremists pushing voter suppression and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. He became a darling of conservative pundits who praised his “independence.”

His commitment to Quindaro was admirable. His votes, which he seemed to trade in exchange for Quindaro support, were not. He demonstrated a willingness to harm others in pursuit of a better Quindaro.

Many mumbled about Robinson’s seeming duplicity, but Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, risked censure by condemning Robinson’s voting record from the House floor.

When Robinson’s Republican colleagues steered Quindaro money to Robinson, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed it in May of 2023.

Carr said he and Robinson voted “present” on the initial vote on barring transgender students from girls’ and women’s’ sports. After the vote, Carr said, conservative lawmakers saw an opportunity to flip those votes. Carr growled. Robinson flipped.

“He succumbed to the pressure,” Carr said of Robinson, and that so disappointed Carr that in remarks from the House floor, he referenced two kinds of slaves on a plantation, the house negro and the field negro.

“I would never want my constituents to look at me and assume I was a house negro,” Carr recalled saying. When he returned to his seat near Robinson, he said that Robinson leaned over and said, “Thank you for that.”

Robinson, a Democrat, ultimately sided with Republicans to overturn Kelly’s veto of the transgender athlete ban. Kelly would later allocate $1 million to the Quindaro Ruins.

Robinson’s support for Quindaro paid dividends. It’s too bad, though, that he could not widen his political aperture to accommodate more light for his supporters. Robinson’s constituents chose educator Wanda Brownlee Paige as his likely successor in the primary Aug. 6.

The vision for what that area could and should be should have been broader.

There should be a federal museum on those historic Kansas slopes of the Missouri River. There should be an Underground Railroad path linking it to Lawrence’s Underground Railroad sites and to the Ritchie House in Topeka, as well as to the old Free State Capitol.

Because federal funds helped ram Interstate 635 through Quindaro’s heart, a toll for drivers using the interstate could help fund these efforts.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a visit to Kansas City said Build Back Better infrastructure funds could be used to help reconnect Black communities disconnected by interstate construction.

We should lure people with Quindaro-area roots back to the area with tax breaks. A new museum could anchor the homes and businesses around it. Special things were done to isolate it. Special things could be done to rescue it.

We could rebuild the old facades from Western University and the Douglass Hospital for school tours. Our state hasn’t sufficiently marketed our racial history. Quindaro needs a vision and a strategy, not just affection.

Robinson just didn’t seem to have a clear vision he could articulate. He seemed most focused on immediate needs, like the tall grass at the old cemetery.

He could frustrate you endlessly but also engender sympathy. He typically seemed overwhelmed and out of place at the Statehouse. He swam in his oversized clothes. He partnered with legislative conservatives who in recent years simultaneously argued for and against the kind of racial history Quindaro presented.

Robinson wasn’t a bad man. He’d proudly served in the U.S. Navy. He’d talk to anyone about Quindaro. More people know about historic Quindaro because of him.

But there was a cost.

Constituents will remember him as someone who loved Quindaro and devoted much of his existence to spreading the word about its importance.

But as with the King of Pyrrhus, “whose victory over the Romans in 279 B.C. at Asculum led him to remark that one more victory like that and ‘Pyrrhus is undone,’ ” Robinson had to absorb huge losses.

Unlike Pyrrhus, he’d no doubt do it all again.

Mark McCormick is the former executive director of The Kansas African American Museum, a member of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission and former deputy executive director at the ACLU of Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here .