There's no good excuse for opposing streets named after King [View All]

[KG]

http://www.stpetersburgtimes.com/2003/11/17/Columns/There_s_no_good_excus.shtml

By HOWARD TROXLER, Times Columnist
Published November 17, 2003

I could go the rest of my life without hearing another group of white people explaining all their good, practical reasons for not wanting to name a street in their city after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Good grief, to hear them squawk, you would think they were being asked to pay reparations or something. It's a street name.

Always the same kind of stuff. Inconvenient to the property owners. Unfair to the people who have to change their addresses. Confusing to the public, especially if it's a numbered street. (Cities rename streets all the time, but, for some reason, "Oak" and the like rarely cause the same ruckus.)

Sometimes, a slightly more honest fear slips out: Property values will go down because the King name signals a bad neighborhood. (All the more reason for cities to choose their biggest and best streets, not just their poorest areas, for the honor.)

You know what would come as a sweet relief, a welcome break in the monotony? It would be great to hear a group of black citizens fight a King renaming for the same reasons.

"This has nothing to do with race," they might protest. "We like living on Oak Street. Why should we be inconvenienced for the sake of somebody else's political correctness? Why don't we just rename a little park?"

Right.

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ya know, there are streets being renamed for ronnie ray-gun all over america (it's an organized effort) - not a peep is heard about that - but try to rename a something for MLK and watch the fireworks go off. :puke: