King and Kansas City

As we clearly saw here in Memphis, MLK50 was a big deal. Throughout the nation, cities, individuals, and media tried to remember and celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr in the appropriate manner. But how can you properly acknowledge the progress he made while also giving respect to his flaws and to the current state of the nation. That’s an incredibly daunting task. Currently, Kansas City is making media coverage from places like The New York Times for its controversy surrounding the need to honor King.

            Throughout the nation, at least 955 streets are named after Martin King. Kansas City is one of the few cities, and definitely the biggest city, to not have a street named after King. Thus, the city is not in conflict over whether or not to name a street after him, but rather what street/neighborhood to do so. For the majority of those 955 streets, they are in lower-income neighborhoods or areas that are mostly black populations. I distinctly remember a teacher at my high school in South Carolina who told me to avoid the MLK streets, because it meant you had ended up in a bad part of town. We won’t even get into the issues surrounding the rural South Carolina school system. However, the idea of where to place the street honor is intriguing. Sure, MLK’s name conjures ideas of peace and nonviolence and colorblindness, but to name a street after the figure seemingly changes the meaning. Should Kansas City place the street in a predominantly white or black neighborhood? Putting it in a white neighborhood, reporter John Eligon argues, “would be affront to the city’s black residents and disrespectful to the fact that Dr. King fought primarily for the rights of black people.” Makes sense. Yet, placing the street in a black neighborhood would then just solidify the stereotype that already exists, while also failing to be a reminder of King and what he stood for to the white population. One city councilman makes a strong point that resonated with me. “There’s something to be said for the fact that you don’t need to honor black folks by pleasing white people.” The street should be somewhere that can be honored by the entire community, regardless of race.

            Digging deeper in the article, the problem is actually in the politics of the naming process. Derek Alderman says that most streets honoring King are placed in the only places that some black activists could get the funding for. The negative stereotype surrounding the naming of a street after MLK seems to come from the street names early on, in which there wasn’t enough funding to honor King in a different place. So what’s the morally right thing to do here? Both sides make some sense. Perhaps, work towards a commemoration that doesn’t involve a street name. At the same time, however, is that just avoiding the problem?

¹ Eligon, John. “Whose Neighborhood Should Get a Street Named for Dr. King?” The New York Times. 15 April 2018.