David Harvey, president of the Halifax County Chapter of the NAACP, said today the state Department of Transportation had safety concerns about the march starting at Halifax Community College and going down Julian R. Allsbrook Highway to the statue of the civil rights activist in King Park off Virginia Avenue near Chaloner Middle School.

The march, which Harvey said is actually an event sponsored by the Halifax County Black Caucus, will instead begin from the Oakland Shopping Center, the assembly point, and proceed to the park.

“The Department of Transportation had issues with the distance from the college to Virginia Avenue,” Harvey said. “They were concerned with the safety of the people.”

While the main intent of the march is to honor King's assassination on April 4, 1968, Harvey said the other aim is to highlight the unfairness of school district lines that exclude some 325 students living in the city limits but still can't attend schools within the Roanoke Rapids Graded School District, about 287 of them being black.

The original route of the parade would have crossed most of those areas, Harvey said. “Nobody's blaming the current commissioners or the last seated board. What we're blaming them for is not fixing the problem.”

Harvey explained the Brown versus Board of Education ruling stated no boundaries. He also said, speaking of the merger issue, “No one is trying to close down schools in Roanoke Rapids. Belmont is a state of the art school. Roanoke Rapids needs Belmont.”

He said, structurally, Roanoke Rapids High School is more sound than Weldon High School. “Manning should have a new elementary school.”

The time of the March remains unchanged. It will begin at 1 p.m., and there will be speakers at the park.