Renaming of street to honor MLK sparks debate in St. Bernard Parish

3rd August 2015   ·   0 Comments

Forty-five years after the assas­sination of the Rev. Dr. cash advance green cove springs Martin Luther King Jr. and some two decades after a national holiday was established to honor the iconic civil rights leaders, residents and officials in St. Bernard Parish are at odds over whether a street in the mostly white parish that borders New Orleans should be renamed in King’s honor.

“I mean, if the street’s name has to change, which is ridiculous, then name it after someone who’s done something for this parish,” a St. Bernard resident told FOX 8 News Tuesday.

Some described Tuesday’s public hearing in the St. Bernard Parish Council Chambers as heated with racial overtones. People showed up to weigh in on whether the St. Bernard Plan­ning Commission should pass a quick loan same day motion to change the name of of Colonial Blvd. to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

“My experience is that streets that are named MLK has been crime-ridden, drug-infested and unfortunately, it’s known to be Black-populated,” another resident said.

“Every street that’s name after Martin Luther King is not drug infested and crime ridden,” another resident countered.

“It got a little rowdy last night, but we were there to listen to everyone,” the Rev. Kevin Gabriel said.

Gabriel, who serves as president of the St. Bernard Parish Branch of the NAACP, said the idea first came about back in October 2014.

“Then in March, I got a petition and came around payday loans the the neighborhood,” Gabriel told FOX 8 News. “Five houses said no and 28 of them said ‘yes.’”

While the majority of homeowners on Colonial Boulevard are Black, Gabriel said this is not a racial issue.

“All people should see what Dr. King was about,” Gabriel said. “He wasn’t for the Black. He saw the hearts of people, and that’s what all people in St. Bernard should see — the hearts of people.”

“Anytime you have an issue such as this, you can expect a certain amount of emotion to be in this decision,” Roy Gross, chairman of St. Bernard Planning Commission, told FOX 8.

He said the Sheriff’s Office was payday loan places tacoma wa present at the meeting, and several people were stopped from speaking because of comments that were made. In the end, the Planning Commission unanimously passed the motion for the name change.

“The main reason I think the Commission had an obligation is because the people who live on that street, almost 80 to 90 percent, signed the petition to change it, and they live on that boulevard,” Gross said.

The St. Bernard Parish Council will make its decision when the motion is introduced Tuesday, August 4. Another public hearing is set for August 18 at 3 p.m.

This article originally published in the August 3, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.