Bid fails for Coretta Scott King portrait in state Capitol

<p>A bid to hang Coretta Scott King's portrait in Georgia's Capitol died in committee on Wednesday, prompting the state lawmaker pushing the proposal to liken the move to Don Imus' slur about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.</p><p>"It's just like calling Mrs. King a nappy-headed (n-word)," Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam told reporters after the hearing.</p><p>"It's another example of blatant disrespect for black women in 2007," said Abdul-Salaam, a Democrat from Riverdale.</p><p>"It's worse than what Don Imus did."</p><p>Members of the committee did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press asking for a response.</p><p>Imus ignited a firestorm when he referred to the Rutgers' team as "nappy-headed hos" on his April 4 radio show. The shock jock has apologized and has been suspended for two weeks. The public outcry has prompted some major sponsors to pull their advertising from his radio show.</p><p>Abdul-Salaam's resolution would have urged the Capitol Standards Arts Commission to hang a portrait of Mrs. King in the state Capitol next to a picture of her late husband, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.</p><p>The three-member House Special Rules Committee declined to move the proposal on Wednesday. State Rep. Doug Holt made a motion to vote on the resolution but it died after failing to draw a second.</p><p>Abdul-Salaam said she now plans to talk with state Republican leaders, and will ask Gov. Sonny Perdue to issue an executive order for King's portrait to be hung in the Capitol. Perdue spokesman Dan McLagan said Abdul-Salaam should direct her request to the commission.</p><p>"The governor does not decide what portraits to hang in the Capitol, the Capitol Arts Standards Commission does," McLagan said.</p><p>Abdul-Salaam said that she has been stymied in a similar attempt to designate Mrs. King's birthday as a holiday. A separate resolution that would have honored her on April 27 has not advanced.</p><p>"I'm saddened," Abdul-Salaam said.</p><p>______</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc2b0)</p>