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Council throws token to MLK supporters

The Zephyrhills City Council has voted for a condescending compromise on renaming Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue:

Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue signs will remain in Zephyrhills as a tribute to the slain civil rights leader, but Monday night the street's official name was restored to Sixth Avenue.

The compromise marked an end to months of debate over what the street should be called, and, city officials hope, a beginning to an open dialogue among residents that can heal the fractured city.

``It's a victory in the fact that we were able to get our voices heard,'' said Elaine Jones, a member of the Democratic Black Caucus of Pasco County. ``But we still have a long way to go.``

That distance was evidenced by the diverse opinions of the more than 200 people who attended Monday's meeting. One speaker criticized King for his anti-Vietnam War stance, while others accused Zephyrhills residents of being racist. Speakers were alternately booed and applauded, and Council President Clyde Bracknell had to call the meeting to order several times.

The council was initially voting on a resolution that would return Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue to Sixth Avenue, but Councilwoman Elizabeth Geiger amended it to allow the King signs to remain. She was supported by Bracknell and Councilwomen Cathi Compton and Celia Graham.

Councilwoman Gina King, who campaigned on her promise to bring the renaming issue back before the council and did so at a meeting April 26, voted against the compromise. She had previously spoken in favor of leaving the signs up, but now believes the signs would only serve as a reminder of the bitterness.

``I'm not sure what good it can do,'' she said after the vote. ``But if it makes the members of the black community happy, I'm supportive of it.``

Those who supported honoring King's name plan to continue to work toward positive change.

However, making a political statement will be difficult for the city's black citizens, which according to 2000 U.S. Census figures, only number 340. Blacks make up 3.1 percent of the city's 11,000 residents. Fewer than half are registered voters.

The renaming issue, which has garnered national attention including a story in Monday's New York Times, has united and ignited black residents as well as those who supported the Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue name. For the past week and a half, daily protests at city hall attracted dozens of people from around Pasco County who disagreed with the decision to take back the street name.

There's talk of finding people to run against Bracknell and Compton, who have voted in favor of the Sixth Avenue name. They are up for re-election next year. Jones also said there will be a push to get more black voters registered and educated on the issues.

Hopefully, through organizing and followup, enough voters can be motivated by this to put some new people into the Zephyrhills City Council in November. See, although this is a partial victory for the racists (don’t be distracted by the Vietnam argument - this is all about racism), the big bright light that has been thrown on this issue through national press attention could well result in the scattering of the cockroaches who do their best work in dark and greasy backward corners.