Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 16, 1995 TAG: 9501250013
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
DATELINE: ATLANTA NOTE: BELOW LENGTH: Medium
Those who seek inspiration from the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. can no longer find it inside the house where he was born.
A visitor who climbs the front steps to the wide front porch can only peer in the windows of the home where King was born 66 years ago today. From the outside, you can glimpse some furniture and try to imagine young Martin sitting at the dinner table, reciting from memory a different Bible verse every day.
But the front door is locked. Throngs of schoolchildren, Japanese tourists, Atlanta residents who have been here many times before, all stand outside, frustrated.
Tours inside the home were abruptly canceled just after Christmas, when King's family barred the National Park Service from the land.
The dispute springs from the Park Service's construction of an $11 million visitor center and parking lot one block from King's birthplace. The family wants to build its own museum and theme park to control directly how King is portrayed to visitors.
So, the birthplace of the civil rights leader we now honor with a national holiday is locked up in a bitter standoff. The ranger tour guides were kicked out, so nobody gets in.
The immediate question is whether the visitor center, already under construction, will draw crowds away from the interactive museum and theme park that the King family hopes to build.
The larger question is who should control the King legacy and depict it to the world, especially young people who do not know what it was like to be forced to the back of the bus.
The site fight has split Atlanta - a city proud of the way blacks and whites share power - leaving prominent civil rights leaders and King's former lieutenants on opposite sides.
The Park Service and the city hope to finish building the visitor center before the 1996 Olympics begins in Atlanta. Construction continues, with the Kings still fuming and the Park Service reduced to giving its tours from the sidewalk.
The visitor center
``The whole thing will take about 20 or 25 minutes to go through. It's just a good start, a jumping-off point to get people oriented and encourage them to go out to the crypt, the birth home and the other sites,'' said Richard McCollough of the Park Service.
``We don't see any conflict with the family's idea of building a museum,'' he said.
But the King family sees a ``dark ambition'' behind these plans.The family controls the other side of Auburn Avenue. That includes the crypt and birthplace a block from the visitor center, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, which has its own exhibits and sponsors educational programs.
Until December, the Kings and the Park Service worked together. Rangers served as tour guides, while government-paid work crews restored some of the houses along Auburn Avenue.
But the Kings decided last year that the Park Service was about to overstep its bounds.
At first, the public seemed to back the Park Service, which formed its plans after long meetings with city and community leaders. Participants said the Kings were invited, but offered little input.
Last week, the sentiment began to shift. Former Mayor Andrew Young and several black ministers defended the family. ``The Park Service's attempt to usurp control of the interpretation of Dr. King's legacy is grossly inappropriate and should be opposed by everyone who cares about Dr. King's place in history,'' they said in a joint statement.
It's too late to stop those plans, Lewis said last week.
``The family wants to do the very best they can for a departed family member. I understand very well,'' Lewis said. ``But the family must realize that Dr. King does not belong to just one family, just one city, just one state or nation. He is truly a citizen of the world.''
Keywords:
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by CNB