Sohn: Apparently MLK's dream is still a dream

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MLK mural praised as community anchor

Each time it begins to look as though Chattanooga has turned a corner on race and community relations we're reminded that there is far more work to do.

Such was the case again on Martin Luther King Jr. Day when the traditional parade to honor King was on again, off again, on again and then boycotted by its sponsor - the Unity Group.

If you're confused, don't worry. Everyone is. The only thing that's clear is that we all still can't get along, and the black community - just like the white community here - is lacking in cohesive and collaborative leadership.

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Community pitches in on King Day service projects

Staff photo by Tim Barber Bailey Allen, left, Madeleine Dougherty and Mark Gilliland, far right, carry signs on North Moore Road Monday during the annual M.L. King parade.

Over the weekend, the Unity Group Chairman Sherman Matthews said the city waited until 48 hours before the scheduled Monday parade to inform them there were "loose ends" in preparations. Matthews said the city did not approve a permit for the parade until Thursday, after throwing a "power storm of problems" at them, including increased regulations and requirements to pay for police services and insurance.

Once the permit was received, a barricade company that has set up for the parade for several years said there wasn't enough time to get the job done, Matthews said. He cancelled the parade, blaming the city.

City officials countered that the Unity Group had known since November that a certificate of insurance was needed, but the group did not present a certificate for insurance until last week. City officials said they fast-tracked the permitting from there, but Matthews said it wasn't enough.

Then when the city intervened to help make the parade happen as planned, (albeit only one lane wide), Matthews said no thanks. He claimed the city deliberately made the permitting hard as retaliation against Unity Group for inviting Rev. Jeremiah Wright - controversial and outspoken Chicago minister who came to fame as President Barack Obama's former pastor - to last year's MLK Day events.

Then when the city said it would pick up the sponsorship of the parade to keep the 46-year tradition alive, Matthews accused city officials of exercising "a governmental nuclear option to orchestrate a deliberate and hostile takeover of the MLK March and parade."

Adding insult to injury, Matthews said the group would "boycott" the parade.

Clearly, all this bad feeling is not just about a parade. Or even last year's controversial speaker. Or the mayor's appearance to speak at last year's event - something that some members of the community said had angered Matthews.

The Unity Group this year moved the parade from its customary MLK Boulevard location to North Moore Road in Brainerd because of gentrification.

"At the heart of this matter is our firm belief that the street that bears [Martin Luther King's] namesake no longer represents the epicenter of the Chattanooga's African-American community as our businesses, churches, homes and schools have rapidly dissipated from this once-thriving urban core under the guise of urban planning, renewal, and outright gentrification," a group statement reads. "These communal vices led to rapidly decaying social conditions and psychological conditions that can be defined as maltreated, malnourished and maladjusted. The Unity Group refuses to accept, condone or turn a blind eye to these and other pressing societal issues."

But the group's vice chairman, Rev. Charlotte S. Williams told a WDEF-TV reporter that the dedication of the MLK mural forced the move because of a slight "miscommunication" between the group and city officials: "So when we heard that we decided that we would take it to the people," said Williams, "We are going to have it at Brainerd High School."

On Monday morning, as Mayor Andy Berke spoke at Monday's MLK mural dedication ceremony on the lawn of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center on M. L. King Boulevard downtown, Black Lives Matter protesters carrying "Justice for Javario" signs interrupted the ceremony.

Javario Eagle, 24, was killed by Chattanooga police in December. Police said Eagle was carrying a knife and a gun at the time of their arrival on the scene at Emma Wheeler Homes, on a call of a man exhibiting strange behavior. Eagle was with his four-year-old daughter at the time.

And two years ago, in response to a string of gang-related shootings, the city unveiled a violence reduction strategy with the announcement of 32 arrests - all black men - that then-police Chief Bobby Dodd dubbed the "worst of the worst."

After 46 years of MLK Day parades and events in Chattanooga, one would think we could all just get along. Instead we have community foot-dragging and City Hall locked in a battle over shared turf.

Maybe next year, some leaders will step forward, both in the community and in City Hall. Until then, we'll all just have to keep dreaming the King dream.