A divisive campaign to have Martin Luther King Jr.’s name removed from a Kansas City boulevard has ended after voters said they want the name changed, with 70 percent in favor of the move. The bitter fight began after city leaders decided to rename the thoroughfare known as The Paseo for the civil-rights icon less than a year ago. The campaign culminated in recriminations this week after a group of mainly white demonstrators staged a silent protest at a get-out-the-vote rally at a black church for people wanting to keep the King name. They walked into the Paseo Baptist Church and stood silently along its two aisles and refused requests from preachers to sit down. The issue made it onto the ballot paper after the “Save the Paseo” group collected 2,857 signatures to have the name change put to a public vote. The road runs north to south through a largely black area of the city. Supporters of the Paseo name rejected the allegations of racism, saying they opposed the name change because they say the city council did not follow city-charter procedures when making the change and didn’t notify most residents on the street about the proposal.
