Future Of Atlanta's King Center In Limbo

As throngs of people visit the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, Ga. to honor Coretta Scott King, who established the center and who died yesterday - at age 78 - at an alternative medical center in Mexico. The King Center has recently been entangled in financial problems and management controversy, and is at the center of a family feud. In December, the center's board of directors discussed selling it to the National Park Service. Dexter and Yolanda King support the sale while their siblings, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, say the center should remain under family control. They have threatened legal action against Dexter, the board chairman.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., said Coretta Scott King "was the only one who had the ability or potential" to get financial and political support for the center. "I think people will realize it's in the best interest of the center and the legacy of Dr. King" for the Park Service to take control, he said. Willie Bolden, a civil rights protest veteran, disagreed. "I wish they wouldn't sell it, especially to the government," he said. "I'm still not convinced the government didn't have something to do with the assassination of Martin Luther King."

Things are about to get (even more) ugly in the King clan. The King Center should remain under black control, which means not government control. However, I ain't been pleased with how the King children have mismanaged the center, allowing it to go into disrepair while they collect big salaries. The board should be reformed. I'm with Mr. Bolden re: Dr. King's suspicious death.