Dr. King and Port District

Here we go again. Bowing to black pressure, the gutless San Diego City Council approved the incredibly awkward and wholly inappropriate name “The San Diego Martin Luther King Convention Center.” If the timid port commissioners also approve the name, a tragic scenario will surely unfold.

Once again petitions will circulate, this time to drop Dr. King’s name from the convention center. Given that the polls say 80% oppose the council’s vote, it seems there is a good chance that the referendum will pass. Black leaders will then call for boycotts and protests. None of these actions will help race relations in the least.

The irony is that the wimp council members figured their convention vote would buy racial harmony, which has suffered since their abortive attempt to rename Market Street after Dr. King. Any fool could have seen that their vote would only inflame passions.

But perhaps the City Council members aren’t the fools they appear to be. By providing the voters with this highly emotional, but truly insignificant, issue to debate, maybe they hope to avoid public concerns about the real problems faced by the city and mishandled by the council. It is a modern version of bread and circuses, minus the bread.

H. REARDON

San Diego