Martin Luther King Jr. parade unites, even as conflict casts shadow

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A familiar Howard High School drum cadence rang out as hundreds of people prepared for Chattanooga's annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade, and the expected dignitaries lined up.

But instead of launching downtown on M.L. King Boulevard, as in more than four decades past, this year's parade was on North Moore Road in Brainerd.

And instead of organizing the parade as it has in the past, the Unity Group and its president, Sherman Matthews, declined to participate.

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Franklin McCallie is one of hundreds walking from Brainerd Road north on Moore Road to Brainerd High School during the annual M.L. King parade.

Chattanooga City Councilwoman Carol Berz, left, and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann walk ahead of hundreds of participants in the annual M.L. King parade Monday in the northbound lane leading from Brainerd Road north on Moore Road to Brainerd High School.

Brainerd residents stand an watch as hundreds take part in the annual M.L. King parade Monday on North Moore Road.

The group backed out after a conflict over the parade erupted late last week. The Unity Group announced Friday night the parade would be canceled. Then, as the city tried to deal with the Unity Group and its accusations the city was intentionally throwing up roadblocks, things worsened.

The city eventually declared the parade would go on - without the Unity Group's blessing.

With the claims and counterclaims going back and forth between the city and Unity Group officials, determining the truth was nearly impossible Monday.

For some, the debate didn't matter.

"I wish everybody would put the bickering aside," Chattanooga resident Amy Smartt said while marching with her granddaughter. "I've been smiling since I woke up. I think it's beautiful to see blacks and whites together."

Mayor Andy Berke said Monday he wanted the parade to go on.

"Let me just say I want people to have opportunity to march on M.L. King [Day]," the mayor said. "I went out and told the Unity Group that we would have a parade and asked them to lead it."

Berke said Unity Group leaders met permit and insurance requirements, but there was a problem with barricades.

However, Matthews issued a statement Sunday saying the city was deliberately seeking retribution over last year's MLK event speakers and events, including one involving the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a controversial Chicago pastor who has been accused of anti-Semitism.

Matthews said he canceled the parade because of all the "hoops" the Unity Group had to jump through this year to have it. Matthews said he originally moved the parade and venue from M.L. King Boulevard and Olivet Baptist Church because it was more economical to go to Brainerd than pay for the Tivoli Theatre.

When asked about that statement, the Rev. Kevin Adams of Olivet Baptist Church said it was the first he heard of people not being treated well there. He said he wanted all people to feel welcome at the church because it belongs to the people.

Matthews said he's also upset with the mayor for interrupting the Unity Group's prayer breakfast on Saturday to discuss placing traffic cones in the parade.

Berke didn't hear the parade was canceled until late Friday night, said Lacie Stone, a spokeswoman for the mayor. The city learned of the cancellation when the Times Free Press called for a response to questions about a problem getting barricades. The city contacted a barricade company and by Saturday had secured the cones needed for the parade, Stone said.

She said the mayor went to the prayer breakfast to deliver the message that the barricades had been secured and to tell Unity Group members he'd like for them to host the parade. Unity Group members said they would take a vote and let him know. They contacted him later and said they voted to decline, Stone said.

Sherman said the mayor was not invited personally to the prayer breakfast, but anybody could by a ticket and attend.

Matthews also questioned how the city could get the approval and insurance it needed to have a parade within 48 hours, when it took the Unity Group several months to get the same approval.

"We had to jump through a lot of hoops," Matthews said while sitting in Brainerd High School's cafeteria just after the parade ended. "I'd like to have some answers."

Stone said when the Unity Group cancelled, there already was a permit and a planned route in place. And the city used its own cones, she said, which it had offered to the Unity Group.

Matthews accused the city of having two sets of rules.

"Black social organizations seeking justice and equality for all - it appears that we must continue to jump through hoops and loops," he said.

Stone said the Unity Group was under the same requirements as any other event seeking to close Chattanooga city streets.

And while blacks and whites marched shoulder to shoulder Monday, the parade did include a protest about violence against blacks.

Concerned Citizens for Justice members marched carrying signs stating "Justice for Javario," referring to Javario Eagle, a 24-year-old armed black man whom police fatally shot in Emma Wheeler Homes.

"We're out here because police killed a young man less than two months ago, and the day after Christmas, his mother buried him," said Tamara Woodward. "I'm out here as a black mama to say that's not all right."

Police Chief Fred Fletcher and several other officers walked in front of protesters as they chanted, "No justice. No peace. No racist police."

"We support everybody's First Amendment rights to say how they feel," Fletcher said. "It's our job to keep them safe like everybody else."

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.