Honolulu may have a King Street, but Hawaii is just one of just a handful of states that hasn’t named a thoroughfare for Martin Luther King. 

That’s according to an ongoing count by Derek Alderman, a geography professor who specializes in the politics of street-naming at East Carolina University. Alderman told DC808 that as of January 2010, he found 893 Martin Luther King streets in the United States. 

“It is very likely that the number is higher given the passage of time and the fact that it is difficult to make a completely comprehensive count,” Alderman said. “I would be confident in saying that there are at least 900 streets named for Dr. King. Those streets are found in 40 states, (Washington) D.C., and Puerto Rico. That would mean that only about 10 states do not have a roadway named for King.”

The president of Hawaii’s Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition told DC808 that advocating for a street named after King in Hawaii isn’t yet on her to-do list. 

“We’re probably one of the last places that really got this thing started,” Patricia Anthony said in a phone interview. “I’ve never considered it. I’ve never considered trying. (President Barack) Obama doesn’t have a street named after him yet either.” 

While there are hundreds of streets honoring King across the country, Alderman pointed out that name changes are almost always controversial. He said most everyone can agree to the idea of naming a street after King, but debate breaks out over which street to rename. 

“It becomes this big locational debate about where King is best positioned within American communities,” Alderman said. “What’s interesting from my perspective, despite the calls that we’ve moved into this post-racial era, we still see a bitter rivalry over racial boundaries and territory even here in 2011. Many of these communities name a street for King but because of white opposition and reluctance of city councils to go out on a limb, what ends up happening is that many of the communities end up naming roads largely within the black community.” 

In his examination of the renaming of streets for King across the country, Alderman says he sees the very divisions that King fought to dissolve. 

“If you look at it simply from the scale of the map, you would think we’ve got 900 streets named for Dr. King, that’s a positive thing, and it surely is, but if you go deeper into the map, you’ll see a reaffirming of segregated boundaries,” Alderman said. “Street signs are literally sign posts in the sense that they get us from Point A to Point B, but they’re also cultural sign posts. They tell us what’s important culturally and historically. When you start proposing to rename streets you get into valuing historical identities.”

The completion of a 30-foot statute in honor of King has been the subject of much fanfare in Washington. Check out The Washington Post’s photo-rich timeline of the statue since the idea for it was pitched in 1984. 

Would you favor renaming a street in Hawaii for King? If so, which one?