A state plan that proposed changes to a number of state parks includes Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, which was Broward's designated "Colored Beach" during the segregation era.
Stiff opposition to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has emerged in Broward’s Black community, who say the park's historic significance must be preserved.
“Let’s have respect for the history that's there, and not try to gentrify the beaches.” said Emmanuel George, a community archivist and historian who runs the Instagram account Black Broward, which chronicles the county's Black history.
The history of Broward's "Colored Beach" begins in 1946, when a delegation from the Negro Professional and Business Men’s League petitioned the county for a public beach for black Broward residents. In 1954, the county acquired the land on a barrier island where the park now sits. Though they promised to improve accessibility, an access road was not immediately built.
In response to this lack of access, Dr. Von D. Mizell, Eula Johnson led around 200 civil rights activists in staging wade-in protests on Las Olas Beach in 1961. The protests eventually led the way for the desegregation of Broward’s beaches in 1962. An access road to the beach was built in 1965.
Previously known as John U. Lloyd Beach State Park, it was renamed Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in 2016 to honor the two civil rights activists who led the charge to desegregate the beaches.
READ MORE: Plans to jazz up state parks with pickleball, golf and hotels are met with outrage
Ironically, after integration, black residents did not begin to use formerly white beaches, rather white residents began more frequently using the former colored beach.
“They realized that our beach was a better beach,” laughed Earl Beneby, who is in his 70s and recalls being told growing up that he could only visit the "Colored Beach."
“It was the best area because we had shade trees, and you had the ocean right there, the jetties, and you could see the ships coming into port," he said.
Beneby worries the state's current plans — which calls for building pickleball courts — at the historic park would impede on the cultural significance of the beach.
“It would change the culture,” he said, “We have people that are planning family reunions, now they would have to compete against the pickleball court crowd.”
But this isn’t just a case of “NIMBYism,” according to Beneby. NIMBY is an acronym for “Not In My Back Yard."
“We're not refusing any upgrades or anything they would do to contribute to making it a better beach,” he said, “We welcome those changes, but let's make it better. Let's not change the culture.”
“Let’s have respect for the history that's there, and not try to gentrify the beaches.”Emmanuel George
According to George, the historian, there is ample room for improvement, not just on physical infrastructure, but in cultural enrichment, too.
“With more emphasis on this being a historically Black beach, it could then bring more people to appreciate the beach,” he said, “More cultural-based events that could be more reminiscent of back in the day when black folks said this was our beach.”
The FDEP, which oversees state parks, announced the unexpected plans Monday, triggering a flurry of objections. The agency's proposal to jazz up wilderness in state parks with golf courses, hotels and pickleball courts has also outraged conservationists who say the proposals violate state law and tarnish areas of staggering beauty.
Under the proposals, nine parks from St. Augustine to Tampa and Miami could get trendy pickleball courts and hotels.
Public meetings on the proposed changes, originally scheduled for Tuesday, were postponed until the week of Sept. 2, but no specific dates have been given.
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