Change a street name to honor the head of the Black Panthers? You must be kidding! Given the terror the group spread and the threats made against law enforcement, there is no way that Fred Hampton deserves any government honors.

Fred Hampton -- slain state chairman of the Black Panthers party that urged followers to "off the pigs" -- would join the parade of Chicagoans afforded honorary street designations, under an ordinance advanced Monday that outraged the police union.

Hampton and fellow Panther leader Mark Clark were gunned down by Chicago Police officers working under Cook County State's Attorney Edward V. Hanrahan in an infamous December 1969 raid at Hampton's apartment that ultimately cost Hanrahan his job.

But it was the violence that Hampton and the Panthers advocated against police officers that stuck in the craw of Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue.

Donahue was incredulous when informed that the City Council's Transportation Committee had voted without debate to rename Monroe Street -- from Western to Oakley -- as "Chairman Fred Hampton Way." The ordinance was sponsored by Ald. Madeline Haithcock (2nd).

Reaction from one police union official was quite blunt and to the point.

"You've got to be kidding me. I can't believe they would do that," Donahue said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C.
"It's a dark day when we honor someone who would advocate killing policemen and who took great advantage of the communities he claimed to have been serving. We have real, everyday heroes within the department who would be better honored than someone of the stature of Fred Hampton."

But it sounds like it is too late to do anything, given that the measure has passed the City Council. Instead, I would like to add some other historical figures to the mix, individuals of the same sort of sterling character and high accomplishments as Fred Hampton.

Tim McVeigh Way.

Nathan Bedford Forrest Parkway.

Mohammad Atta Boulevard.

Any other suggestions?

Posted by: Greg at 06:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 332 words, total size 2 kb.