spare a thought for william rufus devane king, early nineteenth century politician from north carolina and later alabama, and the thirteenth vice president of these united states of america.
king county, washington, was named to honor him in 1853, the year william king died.
the county’s namesake was changed in 2005:
(note: comments do not require an email. memory hole.)
King County is only 6.2% black. Such a shame. Perhaps there should be some effort to make this SWPL/AZN enclave more racially diverse? In the name of the good doctor, it seems only fair to integrate the residents of King County into the broader America.
So, it’s no longer named after a great statesman, but after a lying, plagiarizing fraudulent lecherous communist woman-beater.
William King? A “great statesman”?
I beg to differ.
Apart from being the shortest serving VP to one of the worst presidents in US history, the man was a defensive slaveowner and a drafter of the Compromise of 1850 (which was a weak attempt to appease the interests of both the abolitionist and pro-slavery factions). Now, I know you guys dislike political correctness, but slavery is truly is an abominable act of cruelty and inhumanity which cannot be defended. Thus, it is not worthwhile for anyone to celebrate such a “great statesman” that history has justifiably forgotten.
“but slavery is truly is an abominable act of cruelty and inhumanity which cannot be defended. Thus, it is not worthwhile for anyone to celebrate such a “great statesman” that history has justifiably forgotten.”
i don’t know whether King deserves celebrating or not but if you forget everyone from history who was involved with slavery then that’s most of world history – including African history. the only difference with most of it is how far away in time it is.
@anonymous – what bugs me is not whether or not we, today, think william king is worthy of being remembered, but that people today are totally disregarding history.
i worked for several years for a good-sized history museum. some years after i had left, they changed the name of the museum, a name which it had had since its founding in the 1800s. total disregard of history — from historians! it bugs me. how can we know where we came from if we just flush it all down the memory hole?
and, like justthisguy pointed out, mlk was no saint, either. plus what greying wanderer said.