Thursday, February 03, 2005

Ghettoized

Some memorial…

The word ghetto has a couple of major, both negative, connotations.  The etymology of the word stems, at least according to Merriam-Webster, from the Italians, specifically the Venetians, who coined the word as a name for an island where they isolated the Jews.  The more familiar vernacular use of the word is, typically, associated with a run down area, at least in my experience, and has been used for years as a term for areas where the poorer Blacks have resided.  Basically it’s a negative word.

Be that as it may, it is the first word that came into my mind this evening when I read the following.

“The memorial where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is buried needs $11.6 million in repairs, according to a National Park Service report.”

The second thing I thought, after reading the above, was judas frickin priest you could build a fine new building for that amount of dough.  But where is that dough to come from?

“Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who fought for civil rights alongside King in the 1960s, told the newspaper in Thursday’s editions that he would be willing to seek federal assistance for the center.”

Coerced from the pockets of Americans.  Is that a fitting tribute to King, a man who would have encouraged individuals to stand on their own?  And who will be bold enough to take a stand against this, and suffer the recriminations and charges of racism for pointing out that the center is a non-profit, and has over 650,000 visitors streaming through it each year, and should stand or fail on its own?

It won’t be Denny’s, Denny’s has already been roped and hog tied as an advertiser at The King Center website, which is quite possibly part of their penance for alleged past discriminatory deeds at their restaurants.

And how did the center arrive at such a state?  It seems that the superintendent doesn’t have a clue.

“I was surprised at the extent of the problems,” said Frank Catroppa, superintendent of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.”

One last question.  I wonder whose pockets are lined with all the donated dollars that have come to the Center?

“Memorial to MLK Jr. needs repairs”

Posted by John Venlet on 02/03 at 07:25 PM
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