Support For Greenville King Day March Not Universal

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Greenville County will be in the spotlight again Saturday afternoon over its policies on a holiday recognizing Martin Luther King Jr.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson will lead a Day of Dignity march with NAACP national President Kweisi Mfume in Greenville at 1 p.m. Saturday in recognition of the 49th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education decision.

The ruling outlawed the "separate but equal" policy of racial segregation in the nation's public schools.

The march will also call attention to county's lack of a paid King holiday.

But some of Greenville's black leaders said that they will not support the march because local leadership is not being included.

"It's no longer local leadership," The Rev. J.M. Flemming of Concerned Citizens for Equal Justice told WYFF News 4's Sharon Johnson. "What we see now is Jesse Jackson and the talk of Mfume coming in here. So now, the local leadership does not exist. We have no say in the course or destiny of our lives."

In addition, the calls for economic boycott of Greenville County businesses by Jackson and the NAACP have raised red flags.

"While I'm in support of a holiday, I do question some of the tactics being utilized to move us toward the holiday," Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance spokesman the Rev. Donald Smith told WYFF News 4's Sharon Johnson.

Last month, Greenville County Council, on a 7-5 vote, decided to make changes in the county's holiday policy in lieu of voting on a proposal to create a permanent King holiday.

The plan reduces the county's permanent holiday schedule from 10 to five days and requires employees to take a vote each year on which five other holidays the county will observe.

Among the optional holiday choices is King Day.

Depending on employees' votes, the county could have a King holiday one year and then not have it the next.

Despite the misgivings, other community leaders said that they will march on with the national leaders.

"We'll march and that march will move into major voter registration efforts and building major coalitions," Jackson said during Monday's conference call. "We will focus, 49 years later, on evening the educational playing field and the binding impact of poverty."

During services Sunday, the Rev. Caesar Richburg, senior pastor at Allen Temple AME Church, encouraged his congregation to participate in the march.

"Let people know why its important to bring your 5-year-old daughter, your 2-year-old son, so that he or she can have an appreciation of the struggle," said Richburg, who is also the Greenville Rainbow/PUSH chapter president.

March organizers are responsible for paying the city of Greenville for expenses like police and cleanup.

The march up Church Street will start at the Greenville County courthouse and will end at County Square.

At least 15 officers will be in place for the event, which will take place just a few hours after an Armed Forces Day parade scheduled for 10 a.m.

"We have great interest in supporting Armed Services Day and we hope that many of them who march in that parade will then join us," Jackson said.

Previous Stories:

• April 30, 2003: Armbands Symbolize King Day Protest
• April 16, 2003: Jackson: Council Decision 'Stubborn And Mean'
• April 16, 2003: Council Refuses To Revisit King Day Decision
• April 11, 2003: Business Leaders Rally To Encourage King Holiday
• April 8, 2003: Greenville City Leaders Brace For King Day Fallout
• April 2, 2003: Councilwoman: King Day Decision 'Disgusting'