When will KC honor MLK? Revive efforts to rename The Paseo for Martin Luther King Jr.
That loud hissing you hear is the whoosh of air rushing out of the idea to rename The Paseo after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Remember that one? It was the talk of the town this spring after a group of African-American ministers rightly decided to push for the long-sought idea of renaming a major Kansas City thoroughfare after the civil-rights icon.
But a petition drive aimed at getting a public vote on the proposal, first in August and then in November, appears to have failed. There was no vote in August, and now it’s almost certain that a vote won’t occur this fall. The reason: The petition effort has, at least temporarily, run out of steam. Organizers have yet to turn in the required 1,709 signatures. With a ballot deadline looming on Aug. 28, there’s not enough time for officials to count and verify the signatures and for the City Council to take final action.
“There have been times along the journey where we’ve had to make adjustments,” said the Rev. Vernon Howard, a spokesman for the ministers. “This may be one of them.”
Howard said his group is in the process of counting signatures, which will then be forwarded to the group’s attorneys for presentation to the city. He isn’t ready to give up on a November vote.
Still, this shapes up as a major disappointment. Lots of energy went into this effort in a year that marked the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination, and the number of signatures needed to get an issue before voters is eminently achievable. The idea gathered momentum after the Parks Board rejected the idea of renaming The Paseo after King. At that point, the ministers organized and vowed to march in the streets until the city relented.
They were determined and vocal, and one can’t help but wonder what went wrong.
Kansas City remains one of the largest cities in the nation without an appropriate honor for King. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver first broached the renaming idea back in 1979. Across the nation today, about 900 streets in 42 states carry King’s name.
“In this day and time, we believe Kansas City is far behind the acceptable norm for this issue,” Howard said in March.
Mayor Sly James stepped in and formed a commission aimed at determining how best to memorialize King. The group came up with three options: rename The Paseo, 63rd Street or Kansas City International Airport.
James is now talking about the council moving ahead on the renaming idea. If the council agrees, it should rename The Paseo, then move on. This debate has gone on long enough. The airport option lost steam because only the terminal would be renamed — not the entire airport. The 63rd Street option remains, but the involvement of Kansas-side municipalities has gained little traction.
If the council can’t reach an agreement, the ministers should finish gathering signatures, then aim for an April vote. While renaming The Paseo is a symbolic effort, it’s significant nonetheless. Kansas City should be among the cities with an appropriate honor for Martin Luther King Jr.