Image via Complex Original
When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared “Free at last! free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!” he didn’t mean free to kill, rob, and sell drugs to each other.
But driving down one of Dr. King’s eponymous streets, avenues, and boulevards nowadays, you can get that impression. Over time, city streets that were supposed to stand as a tribute to the civil rights hero have declined into a “roll up your windows” affair, becoming synonymous with high crime and urban decay.
Here are 10 MLK Drives that are anything but "The Dream.” Maybe now you’ll understand why Chris Rock famously said, ‘'If a friend calls you on the telephone and says they're lost on Martin Luther King Boulevard and they want to know what they should do, the best response is 'Run!’”
Los Angeles
Recent Crime: Hit and Run
Martin Luther King Boulevard in Los Angeles runs directly through the Crenshaw District, crossing over at a street (Crenshaw Blvd.) that’s name-dropped by rappers including (but not limited to) Eazy-E, 2Pac, and Dre. How many of those songs mention that unidentified teens are sometimes struck and killed in the middle of the road when rogue drivers barrel through traffic stops uninhibited? We've seen shootings, stabbings, and robberies, and now this? We must do better.
New York
Recent Crime: Stabbing
There’s a lot to like about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in New York, but there's also a lot to dislike. The street referred to outside of Harlem as 125th is home to the legendary Apollo Theatre. But the surrounding areas can be less than magical. Areas immediately bordering the four-block stretch of King between 7th and Morningside have seen five homicides since 2003. Recently, gang violence between the Grant Houses and the Manhattanville Houses in West Harlem has escalated.
Cleveland
Recent Crime: Campus robbery
Martin Luther King, Junior Drive runs north-south through the heart of Cleveland (king of hastily-made tourism videos), flanking the prestigious Case Western Reserve University. Homeless individuals can often be found at a park just a few blocks off the street. CRWU students who didn’t already know to avoid MLK Drive should've been convinced on a night in early September, when an armed robbery took place along one of its sidewalks at 9 p.m.
9 p.m.? If you're not safe when Bob Saget's on TV cooking dinner for three kids that aren't his, when will you be safe?
Houston
Recent Crime: Reckless driving (photo above)
Home to Tammy Chin Chicken N Seafood and clothing shops like Hip Hop Shop, Martin Luther King Blvd. in Houston is lively. It runs through the city's South Park neighborhood, which has a reputation for drugs and violence that, sadly, isn't unfounded. Last August, the street was home to numerous shootings.
Washington, D.C.
Recent Crime: Gas station robbery and shooting
A major artery in the D.C. roadway system, Martin Luther King Ave. (not to be confused with the city’s new Martin Luther King Drive) is regularly the site of overnight and drive-by shootings. In January, three people were injured on the same morning in multiple shootings that took place just blocks away from MLK. Two schools located along MLK Ave. were forced into lockdown. Not your typical school day—hopefully.
St. Louis
Recent Crime: Drive-by shooting
Abandoned warehouses abound on St. Louis’ Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. Earlier in the year, a shooting and police chase along the street left six injured. The incident, though non-fatal, did little to buck the trend of violence along MLK Drive—where residents saw nearly 20 homicides in 2011.
Let's put it this way: MLK Drive in St. Louis is the kind of place where bodies are stumbled upon randomly in vacant parking lots.
Milwaukee
Recent Crime: Shooting
Martin Luther King Drive in Milwaukee is a prime example of urban decay. Once home to thriving, upscale businesses, the stretch now plays host to armed robbery and homicide. Four murders have already occurred in the immediate vicinity of the street this year. Still, efforts are being made to return the area to its glory days. Can't lose hope.
Cincinnati
Recent Crime: Groping
If you're a student at the University of Cincinnati, located just off of King Drive, you know this street as being right around the place you got robbed that one time. And that other time. And...
You get the point.
Atlanta
Recent Crime: Two shootings
Perhaps the he most well-known MLK Drive in America, Atlanta's tribute to Dr. King is a winding, tree-lined roadway that takes residents through downtown to both ends of the city. Though scenic, the roadway is no stranger to overnight shootings and bizarre discoveries in cars—discoveries of the, uh, rotting corpse variety.
Chicago
Recent Crime: Fatal shooting
A major thoroughfare that runs through the heart of Chicago’s South Side, Martin Luther King Drive is often associated with the city’s alarming homicide rate. The city that just saw its record 400th homicide of the year has recorded 36 murders within a mile of MLK Drive itself since 2007. Within four miles? Almost 300, enough to match the population of any number of rural towns downstate. Eight of the slayings have occurred directly on King Drive, or its sidewalks.