Posted on 03/05/2005 2:24:47 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
One does not have to be a bigot to know that Martin Luther King was a deeply flawed human being---and not necessarily worthy of a hagiography.
Exactly what part of what he said prompted you to call him a bigot?
-- Chris Rock
Actually, the MLK street in Des Moines is something of a highway. It's the main north-south thoroughfare in the city. By its nature, it will never have housing projects.
A call for a white history month and all the rest is a silly reaction to black history month considering the origins of each.
That's good. Politicians can do strange things with good intentions and end up having bad results.
For that reason, I would have opposed MLK blvd and would have pushed for naming after a respected local or state level black leader there instead.
I don't know any in GR(other side of the state from where I'm at), but I can think of a few with Michigan ties. Dave Bing is the first to come to mind. I don't think this would even be news if it was him. Bing was a Pistons Hall of Famer and also a business owner who is now trying to open charter schools in Detroit.
True enough, but it is in an icky part of town.
Any Savannah, GA Freepers out there? I was visiting that town this week and it's a great place. However, a couple nights ago my wife and I were walking through downtown on Ogelthorpe Street and ended up on MLK Blvd. What a blight and an eyesore. I immediately started thinking "let's find our car and get out of here."
BTW, nothing racist implied here, we had a great time visiting Savannah and the rest of the downtown area (which is 50/50 black/white and one of the first truly integrated Southern cities) was a lot of fun to be in. Especially River Street where I met a lot of good people, including the author of a book on the town (Murray Silver) who personally signed his book for us. I also stopped at the Moon River Brewing Company and Churchill's English Pub a couple of times. Then we spent a lot of time visiting the squares and some of the old houses and graveyards. Lot of history in that town.
Agreed.
MLK is a main drag over in Lansing and goes through some rough areas, but it isn't the worst part of Lansing.
I wouldn't walk MLK in St. Petersburg *or* Tampa on a dare.
Get lost, troll.
Classic DU troll.
LOL DUH supports the troops.
"Robert S,...said it is...a new beginning for a street with a reputation for prostitution and drug trafficking."
If this fellow is hoping the name change will improve the street action, I'm afraid he's in for a disappointment. I'd like to know more about why he hates his step father so much he dropped the last 6 letters of his name.
heh. All signs point to ZOT.
sad fact of life is that now politicians are "required" to name SOME street after MLK in order to appease the 90% of black people who vote for the democrat party.
Where this PC mandate runs into problems is when they have to replace a historic non-civil rights related name. Merchants are trapped in a catch 22. If they oppose a name change they are called racists, if they allow the name change they business gets hurt.
I just think that the state that is the home of George Washington Carver should not have looked to King to name a street.
IMO, MLK gets the attention because of his soaring speaking style and not much else. Others started the civil rights movement; he capitalized on it. By the time of his death he was already starting to become irrelevant as the changes he wanted came and history passed him by. His philosophy was based on the work of others-Booker T Washington, and especially Ghandi. MLK was a latecomer. He was a good man, but not a saint.
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