Critics Predict Bad Image From King Way Vote

Local black leaders on Wednesday reacted with anger, disappointment and grief over the decision of San Diego voters to strip the name of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from a major downtown roadway--a move some charged was motivated, in part, by racism.

Meanwhile, the city’s elected leaders said they hope to defuse those kind of feelings--as well as nullify any bad publicity San Diego would get in the national press--by moving quickly to find another memorial for King.

To get the ball rolling, Mayor Maureen O’Connor met briefly Wednesday morning with Councilman-elect Wes Pratt, whose 4th District includes a large minority population. O’Connor said she wanted to hear what Pratt had in mind for a new King memorial before taking up the question with other council members.

“Basically, I think we need to move on it,” Pratt said after meeting with O’Connor. “I don’t want to waste any time.”

Open to Suggestions

Pratt said he favored naming the new downtown convention center for King, but was open to other suggestions.

Michel Anderson, co-chairman of the Keep Martin Luther King Way--No on F Committee, also suggested other possibilities--the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge, the Laurel Street bridge, the proposed downtown library, the proposed downtown local government complex, or the federal building.

Whatever the choice, Pratt said, quick action is required to counteract any move by national groups, prompted by publicity over the vote, to cancel trips or conventions to San Diego in protest.

San Diegans in Tuesday’s election overwhelmingly approved Proposition F, which reinstates the name Market Street to a 6 1/2-mile stretch of city center roadway.

“There are going to be some negative ramifications, economically speaking,” Pratt said. “I think people will perceive San Diego as being not as sensitive as it should be and, depending on what part of the country you are from and how progressive you are, you will perceive San Diego as racist.”

Pratt also said he wanted to make sure the process of selecting a new memorial includes plenty of community input.

Swift Action ‘Wise’

Althea Simmons, chief lobbyist for the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People in Washington, D.C., said Wednesday San Diego would be “acting wisely” if it moved swiftly to find something else to designate in King’s honor.

But even at that, she said the votes on the Market Street initiative showed that “racism is alive and well in the ‘enlightened’ state of California.”

She predicted that San Diego can expect to suffer some of the same economic backlash now being experienced in Arizona, where its governor earlier this year canceled a state King holiday. At last count, the City of Phoenix has lost $25 million in confirmed and tentative convention bookings as groups have pulled out in protest.

“It’s going to look really dumb and, as a matter of fact, San Diego will be inevitably compared with Arizona . . . ,” Simmons said. “I am certain that people will put two and two together and see the similarity and I am sure that you will have reaction with reference to this action taken by the people in San Diego.”

Claim No Reaction

San Diego tourism officials, however, said they haven’t heard a peep from any of the 53 groups that have confirmed bookings for the convention center after it opens in 1989.

“No one has brought it up and we hope they don’t and we’re not going to bring it up,” said Al Reese, vice president for public affairs at the Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Yet Herb Cawthorne, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of San Diego, said during a press conference Wednesday that he knew of “several organizations, conventions which have begun immediately a process” of reconsidering their San Diego convention plans.

“I do not intend to talk about them specifically today, but at an appropriate time, we shall unveil the list and make that known,” Cawthorne said of the organizations. “I can assure you that the reaction to this event will place San Diego in a small, petty light.”

To emphasize his dissatisfaction with the vote, Cawthorne began his press conference with a dramatic flair--having a gray coffin containing a King Way street sign rolled into the room and placed in front of reporters.

He said the black community was grieving the loss of a symbol and announced plans to hold a march Friday where people would be asked to dress in black and walk behind the casket through downtown. Appearing at the press conference with Cawthorne was the Rev. George Walker Smith, pastor of Christ United Presbyterian Church.

Both men emphasized that they were in no hurry to look for another memorial to King.

“I would hope that any politician would move in a way that acknowledges the feeling and the loss in this community, and when you lose something that is important and significant, it is disrespectful to say, ‘It is not of value, it can be easily replaced and I shall do so,’ ” Cawthorne said.

Proposition F was sponsored by a group of downtown merchants situated on the roadway who were unhappy with the City Council’s decision in April, 1986, to designate the street as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The merchants said they were never properly notified about the impending change and that the name Market Street has historic significance to San Diegans.