Houston home to rival MLK parades
HOUSTON — For more than two decades, Houston has had competing parades on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with organizers lobbing allegations of favoritism and conspiracy at each other and at city officials as the groups battled over permits and preferred starting times.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, up for re-election in November, hoped to finally put an end to the dueling events this year in a city where about a quarter of the population is black. But his decision that the city would officially support one parade — the one that also happens to be the nation’s oldest such event honoring King — seems to have brought the rivalry to a new level.
Instead of backing down, organizer Charles Stamps invited two of Turner’s biggest political challengers to join in his MLK Grande Parade, which will take place at the same time and within
miles of the city-backed Original MLK Jr. Day Parade.
Even as Stamps moved forward with his plans, Turner dismissed suggestions that divisions remain within the nation’s fourth-largest city over how best to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He pointed to city, county and federal officials along with faithbased leaders who have come together behind one parade.
“You have all of that unity that’s taking place and that’s something we all should be very proud of and we should uplift in the spirit of Dr. King,”
said Turner, who is black.
Houston isn’t the only place with dueling King events this year. In Jacksonville, Florida, a rift
between City Hall and local civil rights groups resulted in competing breakfast events honoring King.