Renaming of Street for King Defended

Lynwood Mayor Pro Tem Paul Richards endeavored Thursday to deflect charges of racism leveled at black City Council members who approved the renaming of a major boulevard after Martin Luther King Jr.

Richards insisted that the decision to rename Century Boulevard after the slain civil rights leader was made according to proper governmental procedure. He said the five-member City Council, made up of three blacks and two whites, was unanimous in its decision to honor King by renaming a street.

“It was the thinking of (the City Council) that this Nobel Peace Prize winner and American hero would be the perfect banner-carrier for unity in our city,” Richards said at a news conference.

In April, after the council voted 3 to 2 to rename the boulevard, a number of residents protested the decision. Lynwood, a predominantly black suburb southeast of Los Angeles, has been accused in the past of discriminating against whites and others in favor of blacks.