M a r t in
E i ther
K in o J r .
2 0 0 3 .y p e c t a 1 e a / É t o n
Jan u ary IS , 2 0 0 1
Page B 11
'Greater Good7 Cited in Name Change
Union Avenue
became Martin
Luther King Jr.
Boulevard after
much debate
by S ean P. N elson
T he P ortland O bserver
"The torturous road which has lead from
Montgomery to Oslo is a road over which
millions o f Negroes are traveling to find a
sense o f dignity. It will, I'm convinced, he
widened into a superhighway o f justice, ”—
Martin Luther King Jr. speech accepting
Nobel Peace Prize, Dec. 11, 1964.
Thirteen years ago in April the Portland City
Council changed the name of Union Avenue to
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard by a 5-0 vote.
The Council voted to name the street after the
civil rights leader despite opposition by business
owners along the street. The approval followed an
opinion by the city attorney that said a renaming
committee didn’t have to gamer the support of
neighborhood and business associations.
Martin Luther King Jr. Renaming Committee
Chair Carolyn Leonard was surprised by the
move.
“Hey, they are rational. I’m very impressed
with the City Council and the Planning Commis
sion. They were willing to look beyond the
individual citizen to the greater good. It isn’t
easy to go against the tide of overwhelming
numbers of individuals,” Leonard told The
O regonian.
The City Council approved the name change
in hopes o f changing the negative image of
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a street that
was plagued by vice and crime at the time.
Nine years before the vote, the council re
jected a proposal to name North Williams and
Vancouver Avenues after Malcolm X, who
photo
was assassinated in 1965, and Rosa Parks who
sparked the civil rights movement by refusing to
give up her bus seat to a white passenger in
1955.
“Union Avenue is the symbolic avenue for
the health and vitality of north and northeast
Portland," said then-City Commissioner Mike
Lindberg.
He added that Malcolm X, who advocated
Black Nationalism, was a more controversial
figure than King.
“Martin Luther King Jr. is universally re
spected," Lindberg said.
—------------ • • • ---------------
This was the second time the street name
was changed. In 1891 when the cities of Port
“Now is the time
to open the doors
of opportunity.
55
— M A R T IN
LUTHER
K IN G
H e re a t M etro, w e re w o rk in g to s u p p o rt co m m u n ities w here
businesses th riv e a n d can a ttra c t outside investm ent. C o m m u n ities
w here p eo p le can find fam ily w age jobs, reliable w ays to get to
w o rk a n d h o u sin g they can affo rd . A healthy econom y will create
o p p o rtu n itie s an d pay for th in g s like p ark s a n d n a tu ra l areas th a t
m ake th is a g re a t place to live.
business, career and volunteer opportunities (503) 7 9 7 -1 7 0 0 o r
visit o u r w eb site at www.metro-region.org.
Many business owners on or near the street
strenuously opposed the more recent name
change. Five of them appealed to the state’s
Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). They
were City Antiques, City Liquidators, Roth BMW,
Bums Bros. Inc. and Anderson Bros. Inc.
When LUBA ruled it lacked jurisdiction in the
challenge, the businesses filed suit in Multnomah
County Circuit Court. They lost. A March 19
Oregon Supreme Court ruling upheld the City
Council.
h e P o r ti . and O bservek
A local group called Citizens for Union Av
enue, led by Rosalie Huss and John Baxter, then
collected 51,444 signatures to reverse the name
change by putting the issue on the May 1990
primary ballot. Signatures of 29,662 Portland
voters were needed.
“The issue is City Hall, and the way they
handled it. No way does City Hall have the right
to take this name from us,” Huss said.
Others feared a ballot measure on the issue
would send out a negative message in terms of
the commitment of the citizens of Portland to the
whole area of civil rights.
“I think what people are really saying is, ‘We
don’t want to be identified with a black person.’
continued
on page B13
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