New U-T Columnist To Focus On San Diego’s Diverse Identities, Values

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Credit: Union-Tribune

Above: The San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Charles Clark in an undated photo.

Charles T. Clark admitted to KPBS Midday Edition host Mark Sauer that he had been feeling a little restless. After two-and-a-half years covering the vast sprawl of San Diego County, he wanted to try something new.

And so Clark became the Union-Tribune's newest columnist today, Martin Luther King Day.

His debut column, "San Diego once rejected Martin Luther King, Jr., lets learn from it and be better," details why, after two attempts, San Diego does not have a city roadway named after the civil rights icon.

The arguments of downtown merchants opposed to re-naming Market Street sound familiar today. Denying that an initiative from the "Keep Market Street" Committee had anything to do with Dr. King or the Black community, Clark reminds us their argument centered on the concept of heritage:

"It doesn’t have anything to do with the black community. The initiative was a reaction to the lack of recognition and the loss of heritage.... Don’t kill somebody else’s heritage for the sake of his (King’s). He wouldn’t want that,” he wrote.

Clark's column will appear on Tuesdays and Fridays.

FEATURED PODCAST

San Diego news; when you want it, where you want it. Get local stories on politics, education, health, environment, the border and more. New episodes are ready weekday mornings. Hosted by Anica Colbert and produced by KPBS, San Diego and the Imperial County's NPR and PBS station.