BY ROBERT SANCHEZ
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN -- Five miles of highway could make a world of difference in Middletown. Nearly 300 people marched through the streets Saturday and ended up at Fourteenth Avenue and South Main Street. There, the last of 38 signs commemorating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was unveiled.
The stretch of Ohio 122 that runs through the city received the special designation of Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Although civic leaders said it was a special day, the long-sought goal of honoring the civil rights leader does not mean their effort to improve race relations is over.
"This has already renewed the strength and unity of the people in these neighborhoods," said Louie Cox, president of the Middletown branch of the NAACP. "We're making steps to push on with our effort. If we don't act now, then things aren't going to get any better."
Many residents say Middletown has traditionally trailed other Tristate cities when it came to tearing down racial rifts in the community. Of the 54,000 living in the city, 12 percent are black.
"It got to the point where you'd travel to different places, and it would be hard not to see one of these memorials (honoring the Rev. Dr. King)," Mr. Cox said. "Too many towns were making those steps forward, and we weren't. In order to achieve unity here, we have to go through these kinds of things first."
But Mr. Cox assured members of the city's African-American community that creating the street name was not an attempt to catch up with nearby cities.
The wait for Middletown to honor the Rev. Dr. King was long. Previous attempts to get a street named for him failed, mostly because business owners objected to address changes. This time, no addresses will be changed, because only the memorial designation will be added. More than 10 years went into the planning and development of the memorial, Mr. Cox said. The project cost less than the $8,300 city commissioners approved.
The route runs from Ohio 122 at Interstate 75, west to University Boulevard, south on University, proceeds west on Fourteenth Avenue and ends at the intersection of Fourteenth and South Main Street. Putting the Rev. Dr. King's name in conspicuous places will ensure that his dream continues, said Victor Pearson, who lives two houses away from where the parade ended.
"My son is going to see that sign, and it's going to make him curious," said the 44-year Middletown resident. "It's going to make him create his own dreams." "My son is going to see that sign, and it's going to make him curious. It's going to make him create his own dreams.' -- Victor Pearson, Middletown resident
