What's in a Name?

As the largest city on the planet, New York has thousands of streets, parks, avenues and such all named after just as many people. Some like Washington, Jefferson, and King everyone knows, but others, like Cummings, Corbin, and Halberstam people may not be so familiar with.

Recently there's been a controversy centering around renaming part of a Brooklyn Street in the predominately African-American community of Bedford-Stuyvesant for Sonny Carson, an activist in the New York Black community. The local community board in Bed-Stuy voted for the change but was overruled by the NY City Council in a 25 to 15 vote. Though the ultimate power to name a street is held by the Council it traditionally only formalizes the Community Board's decision. This has led to heated charges of racism, led by Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron, who has said of the vote, "What could be more divisive, whether intentional or unintentional, than have four white members of this city council tell an entire black community no?"

In talking about this topic, as a writer, there's many ways I can spin this with neither way exposing the full truth of the situation. Critics of Carson claim that he was too radical, too divisive, and in many ways he was. In 1974 he was convicted of kidnapping and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Upon his release he began his career as a black activist helping to shut down crack houses in Brooklyn. But several times his ardent defense of blacks led to charges of bigotry against other races. As the NY Times reports:

"Once asked about charges of being anti-Semitic, he said: “That’s absolutely absurd, ‘anti-Semitic.’ And so you don’t ask the question, I’m antiwhite. Don’t limit my antis to just one group of people...

"In 1990, Mr. Carson led a boycott of Korean-owned delis in black neighborhoods, carrying picket signs that said, “Don’t shop with people who don’t look like us.”

But the harshest and most personal criticism of Carson came from Michael C. Nelson, the chairman of the City Council's Jewish Caucus who recalls, "Thirty-seven years ago, Sonny Carson walked into my wife’s classroom and said he didn’t want any white Jews teaching his children, and he also said he would carve his initials on her chest if she didn’t leave."

All of these issues, when looked at in a vacuum, can lead one to believe that Mr. Carson isn't worthy of having a street named after him. But then again, who is worthy of having a street named after them?

Is Horatio Gates, a Revolutionary war general who owned slaves worthy of having his name on a street? Ironically, his is the name they want to rename for Carson.

How about Austin Corbin, whom Corbin Place in Brooklyn is named after, a Brooklyn developer and anti-Semite.

How about Punk Rock icon Joey Ramone? Who was known just as much for his cocaine habit as his three chord melodies.

And what about America founding father Thomas Jefferson, who one could argue was a rapist, slaveowner, and pedophile?

Personally I grew up on St. Nicholas Avenue. Now there's a street name no one can argue. He's literally a saint, and he gives out toys to kids on Christmas. Oh and he's also not a real person.

I bring up these names and issues not so much as to compare their negatives with Carson but rather to bring up the innate human flaws that exist within us all. We can easily fall into the pit of anger and hatred, pointing fingers and playing the gotcha! game. Oh this one did that and this one did this. But rather let's look back and see the things that unite all of the above people. They were men of their time, and they tried, in their own ways, to do something positive for people. Recently critics of renaming the street have said, "Well what if someone wanted to name a street for Adolf Hitler?" But that's not only a flawed comparison, it's downright insulting. Hitler was a madman, and a mass murderer. Some Germans may say that he tried to make life better for Germans--but that's Germany's matter, and they have to work that out for themselves. Though you may disagree with his tactics there is no doubt that Carson made life a little bit better for a population that is consistently, repeatedly, and historically ignored and marginalized by the American justice system: poor blacks. He was a veteran of the Korean war, he helped to fight for voting rights for former black convicts and fought against police brutality, a problem that continues till today. He helped to found Medger Evers College in Brooklyn, and the Black Men's Movement Against Crack a direct action movement of blacks to shut down crack houses in their community. For all of these things he was posthumously honored by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz with the proclamation of October 24th as Sonny Carlson day. Though, in a surprisingly acute case of amnesia, Mayor Bloomberg said, after the Council vote, that "... that there is probably no one who less deserves a street named after him." How Rommeyish.

As a libertarian, I believe that the community has the right to name their streets after whomever they like. I understand some of the criticism that many people level against Carson, much like I can understand the criticism many people can level against John Brown, Nat Turner, and Malcolm X. We would all love our heroes, and our advocates to be King, and Einstein, pacifists and gentle characters. We would love it if all our legends were as perfect as St. Nicholas. But we are men and not myths. We are people and not Gods. We do the best we can with what we have, and it is in our intentions, the good that we try to create, and the passionate determination to create that better day that will ultimately create our legacies. Would I want my street to be named after Carson? I don't know, that's up to my community to decide, but I'm glad this debate has occurred if only so that I could learn more about this fascinating individual.

What's in a name? A lesson.