tives, Bettman said, “Dr. King has been dead for 35 years and
until the NAACP put a proposal on the table, nobody had really
talked about doing anything.”
Bettman said the process had already included two public
hearings and lots of media coverage with ample opportunity for
comment. “This was one of the most widely publicized
processes that we’ve ever endeavored to proceed with.”
“Why are we doing this in such a hurry and why does one mi-
nority group have such power?” Taylor asked.
The council voted six to two (Poling and Taylor opposed) to
change the name of Centennial to Martin Luther King
Boulevard.
Bettman quoted Dr. King: “Amen.”
Backlash Again
After the decision, the council got some backlash from oppo-
nents. “The people who insist on changing Centennial to MLK
using threats and blackmail are most definitely the racists!” said
one anonymous e-mail to councilors. “To truly get what they
want, there would be white people lynched in the streets.”
Clara Nistler of Eugene e-mailed, “I do not believe racism
exists in Eugene anymore from the white side as it does from the
black population. In fact, I’m really weary about hearing it raise
its ugly head whenever someone of color feels offended and
someone disagrees with their decision.”
Lisa Hunter e-mailed that she supports a memorial for King
but “Forcing the change of Centennial down our throats is mak-
ing a lot of us gag.” She wrote that “When [proponents] didn’t
get their way, they behaved childishly, yelling, screaming and
calling names.”
An anonymous e-mail from “a Springfield neighbor” was
openly racist. “You folks are a real piece of work, a bunch of
wimpy spineless back pedaling idiots. I propose you rename
Centennial Loop, James Earl Ray Loop. I think the community
would have been better served by having a MLK memorial uri-
nal at City Hall. Or even better yet an MLK watermelon patch at
Alton Baker Park.”
Mayor Torrey responded, “You, sir or madam, are pitiful!
Your comments are exactly why we needed to provide a memo-
rial that the African-American community felt was the most ap-
propriate from their perspective.”
Munir Katul, a member of the Eugene Police Commission,
e-mailed that “the original process was flawed, and not inclu-
sive. Is there racism in Eugene? Yes. Should MLK be honored in
a significant and visible fashion? Yes. Is one a racist for not sup-
porting one specific proposal for achieving these goals? No.”
“I am disappointed in the NAACP position of ‘my way or no
way,’” Katul wrote. “I understand the depth of their feelings, but
what they have achieved in taking such a position is to allow real
racists to cover up their racism by hiding under legitimate con-
cerns regarding the renaming process. The zealotry of the
NAACP leadership has not helped the causes of minorities and
civil rights in Eugene.”
Councilor Taylor e-mailed Councilor Bettman, a frequent
political ally, “I hope we can leave this episode behind and con-
tinue to work for the interests of Eugene.”
But Bettman e-mailed back, “I’ll never be able to reconcile
why you took such a position” against the renaming.
But the controversy was still not put to rest. On June 18,
Councilor Papé threatened to use a council rule to bring the issue
back to the table for another vote unless he and Councilor Poling
were given five minutes to talk about the “foul stew” surround-
ing the vote to rename the street.
Kelly said the council should let the matter rest. “Every
minute we spend going back over this decision is a minute that is
bad for the community,” he said. “Somebody told me today the
first rule of holes which is when you’re in a hole, stop digging.”
The council tied 4-4 on whether to reopen the issue. Mayor
Torrey joined Papé, Poling, Taylor, and Solomon to break the tie
in favor of giving each councilor five minutes of time to discuss
the renaming.
Papé complained that, unlike other councilors, he was not in-
formed that the renaming decision would be reconsidered during
the June 11 meeting. He said the “ambush” vote and the mayor
contacting Mylenek to urge him to lobby councilors after the
public record was closed was “rotten.”
Nathanson said over the past two years she and the mayor
have had continuing talks about her running for mayor. “This is
something political people do,” she said. She denied her possible
candidacy had anything to do with the vote to rename
Centennial.
Bettman said calls like the mayor’s “happen all the time.
There was nothing improper there.”
“That’s basically politics as usual,” Bettman said. “The only
difference I see here is Councilor Papé and Poling didn’t get
their way.”
Kelly said it would have been better if Nathanson had noti-
fied all councilors about reconsidering the vote. The mayor’s
contact with Mylenek was “probably inappropriate” given the
quasi-judicial decision, Kelly said. But he didn’t see it as a big
deal. “I don’t understand what the problem is.”
Taylor said the mayor was wrong to distribute a letter to
councilors from Mylenek stating his change of mind. Other peo-
ple had been told that their comments wouldn’t be forwarded to
the council because the record was closed, she pointed out. “The
process was really rotten from beginning to end.”
“The process was a foul process,” Torrey agreed, but denied
he did anything wrong.
Racial Politics
After the meeting, Papé said in an interview that he was
“hoping it wasn’t going to be politics as usual” when it came to
the renaming decision.
Papé said he had talked to a half dozen African Americans
who preferred the council rename something else. “The NAACP
does not represent all the African Americans’ in our commu-
nity.”
Papé said the “half a street” renaming was “half baked.” He
said, “If we can’t have all of Centennial let’s do something bet-
ter.”
Taylor agreed with Papé. “The African-American commu-
nity is not just the NAACP,” she said in an interview. She said
she heard privately from African Americans who wanted other,
more prominent options, such as a renamed Ferry Street Bridge
with a statue, but none testified. “It became intimidating.”
Many councilors gave in because they were “afraid of ap-
pearing to be racist,” Taylor said. “I don’t think anybody on the
council is racist,” she said. “I don’t think it’s insensitive” to not
agree with the NAACP, she said.
Taylor said she worked for fair housing rights in Illinois and
has an African-American biracial granddaughter and three bi-
racial great-grandchildren.
Taylor said she got flack from liberal friends for her position.
People told her, “You’re committing political suicide.”
But Taylor said she never decides what’s right based on re-
election and many people admire her independence. “I wouldn’t
want to pretend to be something I’m not.”
Taylor and many other liberals in the community have
clashed before with leaders of the NAACP on issues. County
Commissioner Bobby Green and NAACP leader Henry Luvert
condemned widespread opposition to Hynix wetland destruc-
tion permits and tax breaks as racist. In 1997 Green and Luvert
called Taylor racist for saying that she doubted a light-skinned
African-American candidate for the city Human Rights
Committee had been discriminated against as much as she said
because she looked white. In 1998, Taylor and other liberals sup-
ported former City Manager Vicki Elmer, a former Peace Corps
volunteer who had pushed for affirmative action in Berkeley.
NAACP members wanted Elmer fired for ousting African-
American Police Chief Leonard Cooke.
Taylor says the earlier clashes didn’t affect her position on
the renaming. But “it’s really unfortunate that people rush to call
people racist instead of looking at the real issues.”
Bettman said Taylor and other opponents erred in not recog-
nizing that the renaming process was about more than just
choosing the best street. “It was also very much about respecting
and appreciating and recognizing our local African-American
community and other minority communities,” she said in an in-
terview.
“Too many people in Eugene don’t want to come to terms
with the fact, and it is a fact, that Eugene is basically insensitive
to people of color. They don’t get it,” Dennis Shine, an NAACP
board member, said in an interview. Shine said Eugene handled
the renaming worse than Springfield.
But Ed Coleman, a retired UO professor and leader in the
African-American community, said Springfield is not better
than Eugene on racial issues. It remains to be seen what
Springfield will name, he said. So far, “Springfield hasn’t done
anything.”
Coleman said he doesn’t agree that Eugene is a lot worse
than other places on race. He points out that many cities across
the nation have struggled with which street to name for King.
“This is not a Eugene issue. This is an American issue.”
“People in Eugene are for the most part very good decent
people,” Coleman said. But after the “painful” renaming, “The
whole notion of being a liberal community is sort of suspect.”
Coleman said Papé and Taylor were “stubborn.” But he said
renaming opponents on the council were not racist. “They do
things out of ignorance and not necessarily out of racism. It’s in-
sensitivity.”
The renaming was not just a bunch of African Americans
“playing the race card” to get what they wanted, Coleman said.
Three-fourths of supporters at hearings were white, he said. In
Eugene, “there are a lot of white people that are more adamant
about racism than the people of color,” Coleman said. “This was
not just a racial victory. This was a community victory.”
ew
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