Jacksonville civil rights groups are considering boycotting the city’s Martin Luther King Breakfast next year over what they say is inaction by the mayor’s office on correcting racial disparities, WJCT first reported last week.
But a letter to Mayor Lenny Curry this Tuesday shows the three groups are not all on the same page.
The group MLK founded, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, is planning to boycott the city’s breakfast honoring King. The Urban League is considering sitting it out too.
But, as Florida Politics reported Friday, NAACP President Isaiah Rumlin wrote a letter to Curry, saying all three groups would continue taking part, as long as they have a greater say in planning the annual event.
“We believe that by bringing this breakfast back to the civil rights organizations, it will more accurately reflect the vision and dream of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King,” Rumlin wrote.
SCLC Chairman Juan Gray said Rumlin sent the letter without consulting him or the Urban League.
“The president of the NAACP, the president of the Urban League, the president of the Southern Christian Leadership and myself met on Tuesday of this week,” he said. “At that meeting, Mr. Rumlin had indicated that he had sent a letter to the mayor. He did not have a copy of the letter for us to see.”
Gray said his group’s position on the breakfast hasn’t changed. Without the mayor addressing a host of disparities between black and white residents, the SCLC will not attend, he said.
“It was probably an oversight on his behalf. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. His heart was in the right place,” he said. “I don't know what he wanted to do, but that wasn't the accurate message to send to a mayor who’s already confused.”
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Mayor Curry said he reached out to Rumlin Jan. 13, and will meet with him soon.
Reporter Ryan Benk can be reached at rbenk@wjct.org, 904-358-6319 or on Twitter @RyanMichaelBenk.
