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Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:44 am
by dnweava
WSPanic wrote:
im2kull wrote:
WSPanic wrote:..incredibly insulting to the black community. The Paseo is a boulevard in the heart of the KC black community.
Maybe we should just stop perpetuating this social racial divide? Maybe?

Unless of course MLK Jr. fought for self-segregation. Then, by all means..
I'm sorry guys. You are right. The racial healing begins by telling the black community that a combination of community organization and due process are not legitimate ways to have a voice in the community. And furthermore, that if they choose to honor someone, make sure it's someone more palatable than MLK. And, god forbid, if they do honor MLK, please choose a crappy street like Prospect or 31st.

Do you want to tell them, or should I?
You don't create "racial healing" by renaming a street with a Hispanic name. We have a lot of Mexican-Americans in KC and I think renaming a street named after a street in Mexico city is just wrong.

I have no problem with giving MLK a street, but he already has 900 and a national holiday so I think giving attention to other leaders with a street name would do more good. I do see the appeal of naming a boulevard as they are better upkept than say prospect, but why not give him Gladstone or Shoal Creek then. I think renaming prospect is a bad idea too, you don't honor somebody by giving them a ghetto street.

And honestly, I think renaming a street in the urban core is playing to stereotypes that black people live in the urban core/poor part of the city. There are more blacks in the suburban parts of KC than in the urban core. If you want to really rename a street to honor MLK and put it where the most people (including black people) would see it, then you would rename something like say I-70, I-435 or a street that exists both sides of the river like Oak.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:21 pm
by chaglang
im2kull wrote: The tone of both your reply's indicate that you think I'm white.. ;-) =D>
That's something I've honestly never given any thought to.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:36 pm
by TheLastGentleman
I think it's up to the people who live along it. I bet most of the people who have complained about the name change on the Star's comments, facebook, ect, had never even heard of the paseo before this idea was put forward. Even if they had heard of it, how many years has it been since they were on it, if ever?

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:41 pm
by flyingember
TheLastGentleman wrote:I think it's up to the people who live along it. I bet most of the people who have complained about the name change on the Star's comments, facebook, ect, had never even heard of the paseo before this idea was put forward. Even if they had heard of it, how many years has it been since they were on it, if ever?
I drove it last week.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:47 pm
by TheLastGentleman
flyingember wrote:
TheLastGentleman wrote:I think it's up to the people who live along it. I bet most of the people who have complained about the name change on the Star's comments, facebook, ect, had never even heard of the paseo before this idea was put forward. Even if they had heard of it, how many years has it been since they were on it, if ever?
I drove it last week.
Cool. I wasn't accusing anyone here.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:06 pm
by flyingember
TheLastGentleman wrote:
flyingember wrote:
TheLastGentleman wrote:I think it's up to the people who live along it. I bet most of the people who have complained about the name change on the Star's comments, facebook, ect, had never even heard of the paseo before this idea was put forward. Even if they had heard of it, how many years has it been since they were on it, if ever?
I drove it last week.
Cool. I wasn't accusing anyone here.
I wouldn't be surprised if there's people on this site that hadn't either and if they hadn't couldn't tell you where it ran.

I bet you could find someone on this site that hasn't driven on all of Swope Pkwy, Cleveland, Hardesty, Van Brunt, Gregory and Indiana in years. I've been on all of them in the past year on purpose. Can you tell me of Indiana is east or west of Cleveland without looking (I guessed myself and got it wrong, but I knew which side of Prospect they were)?

And that I've driven on them means little in terms of this discussion. There's so many streets in the city the odds that a specific person has been on a specific street is extremely low.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:04 pm
by WSPanic
im2kull wrote:
WSPanic wrote:
im2kull wrote:
Maybe we should just stop perpetuating this social racial divide? Maybe?

Unless of course MLK Jr. fought for self-segregation. Then, by all means..
I'm sorry guys. You are right. The racial healing begins by telling the black community that a combination of community organization and due process are not legitimate ways to have a voice in the community. And furthermore, that if they choose to honor someone, make sure it's someone more palatable than MLK. And, god forbid, if they do honor MLK, please choose a crappy street like Prospect or 31st.

Do you want to tell them, or should I?
chaglang wrote:Ideally they would choose a street that they feel is meaningful and white Kansas City would STFU and be ok with it. If it’s Paseo, then it’s Paseo. That name never made any sense anyway.

The tone of both your reply's indicate that you think I'm white.. ;-) =D>

Thanks for the laugh!


No wonder we're still stuck in the 60's!
Actually, the tone of my reply indicates how annoying it is to see people sit back and bitch about things on a message board rather than get involved in the process. Not sure what race has to do with it, but whatever makes you feel superior on an anonymous message board...

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 9:03 pm
by flyingember
There's an online survey at kcmomentum. I filled it out, everyone here should.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 9:45 pm
by Highlander
TheLastGentleman wrote:I think it's up to the people who live along it. I bet most of the people who have complained about the name change on the Star's comments, facebook, ect, had never even heard of the paseo before this idea was put forward. Even if they had heard of it, how many years has it been since they were on it, if ever?
I don't really think it should be necessarily a call left to those living on The Paseo. For me, the name is evocative and dates back to the time when Kessler laid out parks and boulevards across the city and hearkens back to a time when KC was a leader in trying to make cities more aesthetically pleasing. The Paseo isn't some random name but was modeled after an actual boulevard in Mexico City - The Paseo de la Reforma. Like someone said there are dozens of MLK Boulevards around the US, The Paseo is quite unique. I don't mind having dozens of MLK Boulevards + 1 (although I think it's a bit trite) but I'd rather not lose the name The Paseo and that part of the history of KC that goes with it.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:38 am
by FangKC
Whose Neighborhood Should Get a Street Named for Dr. King?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/15/us/m ... -city.html

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:29 am
by AlbertHammond
FangKC wrote:Whose Neighborhood Should Get a Street Named for Dr. King?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/15/us/m ... -city.html
I will admit that when I travel to unfamiliar cities and I see a MLK Blvd on the map, that is an indicator that I should avoid that area because it will be blighted and lacking a worthy destination. That is my reaction based on many observations over the years and is typically very correct. I have limited time in that visited city, so I can't waste time driving around in neighborhoods with few destinations.

If we renamed a prominent KC street in DT, Crossroads or the Plaza to "MLK Blvd", would out-of-town visitors also make that same avoidance choice and head to an easier option (in JoCo or something)? This could have serious implications to those retail/real estate areas. Even if we renamed a prominent east side street to "MLK Blvd" would that hamper redevelopment/reinvestment options for the surrounding neighborhood? I don't know, but it is worth studying.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 1:26 pm
by beautyfromashes
Does it have to be MLKs name to truly honor him? What if we named it, “I Have A Dream Way”?

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:39 am
by Darlene
I say if they want their own street lets give it to them. I think it is a good idea and no body goes down that road anymore anyway.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 11:51 am
by Bill Durban
Darlene wrote:I think it is a good idea and no body goes down that road anymore anyway.
For someone who claims to have moved recently to the area (specifically suburban kansas) you sure seem to know a lot about the City.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:35 pm
by taxi
Don't go down that road.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:37 pm
by dnweava
Ok, new idea. Rename the city. King City. Keep KC initials and no longer have the confusion of having 2 kansas cities, and not being in the state of kansas. I'd rather rename the whole city than the Paseo.

Let's do it. I kinda like the name King City too.

King City Royals sounds pretty cool if you ask me.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 1:13 pm
by tower
dnweava wrote:Ok, new idea. Rename the city. King City. Keep KC initials and no longer have the confusion of having 2 kansas cities, and not being in the state of kansas. I'd rather rename the whole city than the Paseo.

Let's do it. I kinda like the name King City too.

King City Royals sounds pretty cool if you ask me.
Damn, that actually kind of works. Good luck getting people to agree though.

Also, we should stop naming streets after the full names of people. Street names should be one or two words max. If you want to use the full name, fine, just have a Martin Street, Luther Avenue and King Boulevard, rather than one lengthy street name.

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:07 pm
by FangKC
There is already a King City, MO.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_City,_Missouri

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 11:08 am
by FangKC
In 10 miles, The Paseo shows poverty and progress. Is that what MLK should stand for?

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/ar ... 25429.html

Re: Black leaders seek to rename Paseo to MLK Blvd

Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 5:26 pm
by chingon
tower wrote:
Also, we should stop naming streets after the full names of people. Street names should be one or two words max. If you want to use the full name, fine, just have a Martin Street, Luther Avenue and King Boulevard, rather than one lengthy street name.
Co-sign. Full name streets are almost as lame as honorary name streets and anything named after living persons. It would be kind of awesome to have a Martin, Luther and King streets somewhere where 3 streets insterect and then do something grand with the intersection. But, KC can’t seem to public place very well.