I fully back Commissioner Bourn on his support for this dog park for several reasons and agree with his leadership on this issue. According to a recent SW JOURNAL article by Jake Weyer, there were several arguments brought forth by a group objecting to the dog park at a recent meeting. They include:
1) MLK Park is "Sacred Ground" as it honored Martin Luther King and it shouldn't be desecrated with a dog park....ummm...does that mean that the Park system should cease developing services at Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, Pershing Park, Audoban Park, Whittier Park, Coyle Park, Longfellow Park, Fuller Park, Harrison Park...etc, etc. Over twenty of our parks were named to honor the deceased who had a big impact locally, at a state level, or at a national level. MLK park is not 'sacred ground'; it is a park that honors a great person - just like all of our other parks dedicated to deceased citizens.
2)Dog's were used in King's time to attack black protesters and thus a dog park would be bad at the park. Really??? Are we going to ban drinking fountains at the park as water was used to break up civil rights demonstrations? Are we going to tear out baseball fields and batting cages at the park because baseball bats were also used by rednecks in the 50's and 60's against minorities? So, Fluffy and Bobo cannot run in a fenced in area at a park because some guys in Alabama 'sicked' their German Shepards on civil rights protesters? Come on...was this serious?
3) That children have not obtained the "Dream"...and thus dogs should not be allowed to obtain their "Dream". Really...can't make this stuff up. That person must not know that an African American is currently our President, that in business, government, schools, sports, etc. the "Dream" is being lived by many. That person should have walked out the door and watched kids of a dozen different ethnic backgrounds utilizing MLK park for baseball, soccer, football, and more (as well as sharing drinking fountains, restrooms, and the wading pool). Execution isn't perfect and there will always be more to go, but somehow, when we look around us the "Dream" is being achieved by many. MLK would be proud of the amazing progress made over 50 years. Don't punish Fido over something this pathetically silly!
For pete's sake, this 'dog park' is going to be placed in a 'bowling lane' wide, obscure area of the park that NO ONE uses!
In the end, it comes down to this: Martin Luther King is a name on the park and memorializes this great American. Martin Luther King's vision for America was a society that was a just, equal society that was color blind. Those ideals are not just shared by one ethnic group...but all of us in the 'Melting Pot' we call the United States. The job of the Minneapolis Park Board is to provide services and opportunities to citizens who utilize their parks. It is their job to maximize the user friendliness of our parks, whether it is Lake Harriet, Harrison, Longfellow....or, Martin Luther King Park.
When Minneapolis Park & Recreation changed the name of Nicollet Park to MLK Park they did it to honor the man. He was a great American, and a hero. They didn't do it to give one ethnic group say as to how the park should be managed to best serve the citizenry. Commissioners Mary Merrill Anderson and Annie Young should have supported Commissioner Bourn and local pet owners as moving this city and this country forward requires people to have enough courage to do the right things for all.
Martin Luther King would never have wanted an ethnic group, whether African American or other, to obstruct progress and services to the community - especially when those services are offered in a just and equal way to each and every citizen regardless of the color of their skin, gender, orientation, age, or family status as the Dog Park is. Time for those objecting to the Dog Park to really look at the America MLK wanted and move forward on that path as their current position holds no rational position to what the man stood for.
I've always loved the dalmation in this video....
0 comments:
Post a Comment