This activity was authored by Jerry T. Mitchell and Derek H. Alderman and a version of it originally appeared in Social Education, the official journal of National Council for the Social Studies, Volume 78, Number 3 (May/June 2014).

Ideally, this activity will take place over the course of two days or two 50-minute sessions.

DAY/SESSION 1

1. Highlight the life and activities of Martin Luther King, Jr.

This may have been done previously as part of a larger unit on civil rights (e.g., Rosa Parks, Brown v. Board of Education, etc.), so a simple review may be appropriate.

2. Have students read the provided handout “Naming Streets for Martin Luther King, Jr.: No Easy Road” (Alderman, 2006) and answer the three discussion questions that appear below on the provided student worksheet.

This is a lengthy read, so you may elect to assign only certain portions. A short discussion of the reading and discussion questions may close Day One. If extra time was spent on Step 1, the reading and discussion questions may be assigned for homework.

• Question 1: Investigate Figure 11.2 (p. 218 of the Alderman Chapter). What size community hosts the majority of streets named for King? Why? (The majority of U.S. streets named for King are in places with a population of fewer than 10,000 people. Small places far outnumber large places.)
• Question 2: What type of groups typically initiate campaigns to name streets for King? Why? (Campaigns are often conducted by the NAACP, churches, and various African American-led community improvement associations.)
• Question 3: Consider the Brent, Alabama, example (p. 225). Should it matter where the named street is located so long as Martin Luther King, Jr. is commemorated? (In the Brent case, location mattered considerably. As to whether it should matter, student responses will vary.)

DAY/SESSION 2
​Follow the procedure below.

1. Open the provided map, Comparing Street Names and Demographic Data. Make sure both layers are turned on. Then have students answer the first map discussion question. Suggested answers follow.

• Question 1: An orange point indicates an area that has a street named after Martin Luther King, Jr. Is there a pattern for MLK-named streets? If so, what reason(s) account for that pattern? (Most features are in the Southeast; other features are in Northern cities with sizeable African American populations; another interesting pattern is the central California valley [farm workers, progressive politics].)

2. In the same map, zoom in to any location. As the scale becomes larger, county lines will appear, then Census tracts, and then Census block groups. If you zoom in too far, the Census data will disappear and only the streets layer will be visible.

3. Click on any shape—county, tract, block group—and a pie chart will appear that shows the racial/ethnic make-up of that spatial unit.

4. Have students investigate the racial/ethnic make-up for several places. Suggested places outside of the Southeast include Buffalo, New York, and Bakersfield, California. Buffalo shows a high African American concentration near the streets named after King; for Bakersfield, it is Hispanic near the street point. Remember that the point is not necessarily lined up with the street. In this case (Bakersfield), there is a sizable African American population near the actual road location and a park named for King, too.

5. Have students answer Question 2 after exploring the map:

• Question 2: Do you think that MLK-named streets are randomly located or are they purposefully located in specific neighborhoods? What data would you need to investigate this question? (Streets named after King are frequently located in sections of cities that have higher numbers of African American residents. This naming, often a street re-naming, process can be politically contentious.)

6. After investigating various places and their relationships to streets named for King, close the activity by discussing Question 3:

• Question 3: Why do you think re-naming a street after King is sometimes difficult? Can you think of any other historic or contemporary person that should be honored with a street name? Would other people agree with your choice? (This question is used to close the activity. Answers may vary. Obviously most Americans would be repulsed by a “Bin Laden Boulevard,” but others would express distaste for a street named for Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, or Harvey Milk depending on their political or social leanings. Street-naming is a political act that defines who controls a particular space. Many people believe that how their place is represented also has an impact on things such as property values.)