Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed proposed a summit
of sorts to settle the contentious debate over a proposed monument to
.
The Democrat said Wednesday he wants King's contemporaries - figures such as Rep. John Lewis and former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young - to hash out a consensus after both Confederate enthusiasts and civil rights groups united in opposition against the plan.
"There are people much more qualified than I am to have this conversation and lead it," said Reed. "We need to turn to our elders in this regard, people who actually worked with Dr. King, to come to a conclusion."
He added: "I’m not comfortable with other folks who didn’t do as much as John Lewis or Ambassador Young did, or others, making a judgment about this."
That was a veiled reference to the surprising opposition that erupted since the plan to build a mock Liberty Bell inscribed with words from King's "I Have a Dream" speech atop the monument for the Confederate war dead surfaced about 10 days ago.
No one was shocked that the Sons of Confederate Veterans came out staunchly against the idea. But it has faced fierce pushback from civil rights groups, including leaders of the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King founded. In essence, neither side wants its legacy linked to the other.
That has shifted some of the idea's supporters to the defensive. Gov. Nathan Deal, who initially approved the notion of a memorial, distanced himself from it earlier this week and said it needed more backing from the black community.
"I thought it was a unique idea," Deal said. "But like any good idea, unless you have people to buy into it, what may be a good idea may not prove to be so good after all."
Several of the leading lights of the civil rights movement have yet to chime in. Our AJC colleague Ernie Suggs reported that the Rev. Joseph Lowery and C.T. Vivian are both taking a wait-and-see approach. But Young told him the monument is a "necessary idea for the nation to pull together."
The King family has been largely quiet amid the uproar as well - a tidbit that Reed referred to in his call for civil rights luminaries to step in.
"This is a situation where we should defer to our elders," he said. "And I think Gov. Deal will be much more open to a conversation that involves the King family.
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