Chanel Davis argues that High Point’s deep and troubling racial divide is precisely why it needs a Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, but that renaming Green Drive actually reinforces rather than heals the rift:

“Words like diversity and inclusion were thrown out at the meeting. For a city that is already sitting on on a racial powder keg between a black mayor, two separate Easter egg hunts thrown by the city at different locations with a large difference in demographics and an African-American community that feels ignored at City Hall and other areas of the city, I think we do need a street named after Dr. King. Out of our surrounding cities, we are one of the few cities that do not have one.

“However, I do not think that street should be Green Drive. A street where, let’s be real, most white residents don’t travel down. A street that is rampant with a vast array of drugs, crime and winos. A dilapidated, both physically, socially and economically, community that some have forgotten about and others don’t care about is not the background needed for a street named after Dr. King.”

The city council voted 5-4 against renaming Green Street in King’s honor.

Join the First Amendment Society, a membership that goes directly to funding TCB‘s newsroom.

We believe that reporting can save the world.

The TCB First Amendment Society recognizes the vital role of a free, unfettered press with a bundling of local experiences designed to build community, and unique engagements with our newsroom that will help you understand, and shape, local journalism’s critical role in uplifting the people in our cities.

All revenue goes directly into the newsroom as reporters’ salaries and freelance commissions.

⚡ Join The Society ⚡