King County:  It seems both sad and ironic that King County is changing the official symbol to be that of Martin Luther King.  I admire Dr. King greatly, but Seattle has a documented history of dishonoring him.  Oh well, let's let the revisionists have their way.  I can only guess the county was originally named after the King Salmon.

Here are a few facts.  In 1957 Seattle was so segregated that almost all blacks went to Garfield High and it's population was over 50% black.  That did make it convenient however when in 1961 Dr. King made his only visit to Seattle.  He visited Garfield High twice to speak to the students there.  He was here on another subject as well.  At that time the city had used imminent domain to take the homes of a great number of poorer folks living in the area that was turned into the 1962 World's Fair.  My father served in both Korea and Viet-Nam, but said the bravest thing he ever saw was Martin Luther King stepping off a bus into a crowd of angry Seattle-ites.

 Here's an article about the visit that seems pretty accurate.  

Here's a good link to the Seattle climate and segregation of those times.