Source: Detroit Free Press / Getty

The city of Kansas City, Mo. and its city council voted overwhelmingly in favor of renaming a 10-mile stretch of road in honor of the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now, the decision by the council will be reversed after residents decided to revert to the street’s former name.

As noted by local outlet The Kansas City Star, the name change became a point of contention with the council voted 8-4 to change The Paseo road’s name to that of the late civil rights activist. Members of the Save The Paseo group claim the council moved to change the name without honoring the historic implications of doing so and rallied voters to side with reversing the name.

Officials say now around 100 street signs will be taken down from the road that runs through the predominately East Side of the city. The vote to change the name upends the efforts by the Kansas City chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the organization co-founded by King, and local clergymen who wanted the boulevard to stand as it was one of a few major cities lacking such a thoroughfare.

Members of Save The Paseo are in talks to honor King in other ways, such as with a fountain or another street.

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Photo: Getty

Source: HipHopWired.com

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