Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. : Renaming of Market Street Is Fitting Honor to Worthy Man

When I arrived in San Diego in 1959 as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy, I was introduced to the “bumper sticker.” The first one I saw said, “Uphold the American Way, Support Rhodesia.”

As a black naval officer on my way to join the 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa and as a World War II Marine, I became very annoyed. I asked myself, “Is this what I am in uniform for, to preserve a way of life that’s practiced in Rhodesia?” After seeing several more of these signs and enduring other experiences in my San Diego neighborhood, it became clear to me what was happening in my new hometown.

At the same time in another part of America, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had started a drumbeat that was echoing and vibrating across the country. It grew louder and louder until he broke onto the pages of history and answered my question. The answer Martin gave me was: “You are in uniform to make America America for all Americans. Stand your ground.” He set a course for all people--black, white and all others.

Remembering how King enabled me to overcome my “social schizophrenia,” in January of this year I wrote the City Council requesting that Market Street be named Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

A street in the public domain that would be named for an important figure must first be worthy of bearing the name. Market Street, I felt, is worthy because it has many attributes that speak to the life of King. It is possibly the longest and straightest street in San Diego. Beginning at San Diego Bay on the west and going east to the city limits, it does what it was designed to do--it moves traffic, people and cars from the heart of the city onto the major thoroughfares and highways.

In addition to businesses, Market has a cross-section of people living on it. It is also a beautiful street. On a clear day, Coronado Island can be seen from Mount Hope, its elevation bespeaking the transcending thoughts of its name.

Not only must the street be worthy, but, of course, the person for whom a street is to be named also must be worthy of the honor, for when we walk on that street it’s like walking on a place designated for perpetuity, i.e., Washington Street for George Washington. On the other hand, we owe no honor to a “Market Street,” no respect or reverence. There are Market Streets all over the world. Near my hometown, Fayetteville, N.C., there is a Market Street, and at its center even today is a marketplace where slaves were once sold.

In San Diego, Market Street was a place where human bodies were once voluntarily sold, and some of us want to change that name. What’s honorable about the name of a street that at one time catered to crime, vice, prostitution and human manipulation? That name Market is gone. Good! The street is to become Martin Luther King Jr. Way, a name that has brought and will bring redemptive honor and respect to the street, the businesses, the residents, our city and our nation.

Some have opposed renaming the street because of the cost incurred in changing the addresses on stationery, checkbooks, signs, etc. But these minor expenses are not uncommon, especially when a business moves to a new location. And the City Council cushioned the economic impact by deciding that, for one year, both names will be evident on the street signs. To those who opposed the change simply because it is change, I can only say that change is always with us.

The city manager first announced that his choice for a street to honor Dr. King was Euclid and 54th. But the white folks on 54th Street rose up en masse in opposition, and that suggestion was not considered by the council (for one reason or another). I want to think it was because Euclid and 54th Street was a very poor choice. However, if the City Council had waivered later under the white tide coming from the west end of Market Street, there wouldn’t have been a question in my mind but that the ugly head of racism and oppression had returned to San Diego. I would have had visions of 1959 and “Uphold the American Way, Support Rhodesia.” But the council hasn’t waivered.

Martin Luther King Jr. Way, more than any other street in San Diego, reflects the life and teachings, the dream, actions and the stature of its namesake. It is a feeder street. It feeds traffic onto and takes traffic off every major highway, thoroughfare and freeway at the heart of San Diego. It is the main access for Southeast San Diego into the downtown area. It is the escape valve when California 94 gets tied up. Martin Luther King Jr. Way is a vital social traffic vein for Southeast San Diego and the adjoining areas to the east.

Approaching Martin Luther King Jr. Way from the north on Interstate 805, an international highway, there are three or four signs advising you that you are nearing the off-ramp for Martin Luther King Jr. Way. What more fitting tribute could be given a Nobel Peace Prize winner than to place his name on an international highway like 805? Not on a bedroom highway like California 94, which is alive only during rush hours five days a week. If there is to be a stretch of highway named to honor King in addition to Market Street, 805 would certainly be appropriate.

Martin Luther King Jr. gave his best for all people and did not count the cost, did not even think about it. He had to be a man filled with the spirit of God to have transcended the desires of the flesh to strike back. He transformed the time in which he lived as no other person has since the time of Jesus Christ. King followed the pronouncement stated in Christ’s own words: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

I did not understand what King was trying to say to us with his life at the time. I understand it now, and I think most of the City Council members had an understanding on April 22 when they decided to rename Market Street as Martin Luther King Jr. Way. I commend and thank them all for taking this step of liberation for themselves, for us all and for posterity.

May God lead them and all of us in decisions that we make in the future that will affect the lives of the citizenry of this city, nation and those from across the world who may have the opportunity to reflect upon San Diego as America’s favorite city.