Wash. County Trashes Garbage Bags With MLK’s Face
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Manuel Valdes, AP, September 3, 2008
More than two years after his face was adopted as the official logo for King County, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s profile is on voter ballot envelopes, on metro buses, at the county council chambers, and prominently displayed on the county’s Web site.
But officials were concerned about one place they felt wasn’t appropriate for the slain civil rights leader’s likeness—the county’s trash bags.
The bags were quietly pulled from use earlier this summer, even though no one from the public had complained. The pre-emptive move opened a window into the delicate decisions officials have made after King County adopted the face of the revered figure as its official emblem.
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King County—the most-populated county in Washington, with a county seat of Seattle, and the 14th largest by population in the nation—adopted the logo in 2006 and unveiled it the next year. It features a striking profile of King in a black and white silhouette. King County had been originally christened after former U.S. vice president William Rufus DeVane King, a slave owner.
The possibility of plastering King’s face on mundane county items like trash bins or prisoner uniforms raised eyebrows among county officials when the proposal was approved. The old logo was a generic crown.
The decision of where the new logo goes lies with Duncan and King County Executive Ron Sims, who is black. As the head of communications, Duncan is in charge of the messages—symbolic or not—King County sends.
Her challenge: to maintain the county brand, without splashing King’s face on something that’s demeaning to King’s history.
{snip}
Some county officials and African-American leaders in Seattle have no qualms about using the image of King.
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Gossett, a longtime leader in the African-American community here, knew from the beginning there would be challenges. His own son told him that he didn’t want to see King’s face on a police car.
{snip}
While Kline said that King County is believed to be the first government to take King’s likeness as a logo, scores of local governments have named streets, parks and even pool centers after the civil rights leader. But many of those moves have carried a stigma: many Martin Luther King Jr. streets, avenues, ways and boulevards are in low-income, crime-ridden areas.
{snip}
(Posted on September 4, 2008)
Comments
Why not change the county seat to “WashKington” while you’re at it? By the way, just exactly what did MLK do to get his mug plastered all over everything? There’s even a bypass in Hot Springs, Arkansas named after him and he was never there. According to a friend who lives there, you now have to have a street, bldg., school, etc. named for him to get matching federal funds.
John from Arkansas
Posted by at 5:55 PM on September 4
Too bad his heirs didn’t copyright that mug shot……they could have raked in extra $$$$.
I just wonder what will happen in the year 2027, when the extensive sealed records on this man are opened to public scrutiny. Hope I’m still around as it will prove to be VERY interesting. I’m wondering if there are any politicians who have the backbone to introduce legislation to repeal his holiday and rename any public institutions, structures, streets etc., named after him, just as they have changed the names of schools named after Washington, Jefferson, etc. It’s amazing how people are so easily duped. It has been established beyond any doubt that he is a plagiarist, and therefore not a Doctor or Reverend, since his thesis was largely lifted from others’ writings. This is not to mention his other dirty deeds, which will be confirmed once the records are unsealed.
What else can you expect from another bastion of liberal nuttiness like Seattle, to plaster his face on everything, even though he had little relevance in Seattle in his day? Certainly when the real truth about him is revealed, a trash bag would be most appropriate!
Posted by at 6:44 PM on September 4
I wonder if that was a tough call? He was involved in the sanitation worker strike.
Posted by Mr. Pibb at 6:56 PM on September 4
Slaughter Hill, Florida should have his likeness on everything in town, but no, don’t put his image on a police car. That would be offensive.
Posted by at 7:07 PM on September 4
And they didn’t think of this BEFORE the garbage bags were printed with King’s likeness?
Posted by Superman at 7:46 PM on September 4
I was a former resident of “King” county, and moved to Pierce County. The King county council did not even put the name change to a public vote.
MLK’s face is being on stenciled on everything, and the ilhouette is quite Orwellian. It’s a chilling image of what is to come I fear.
Posted by Mikey at 8:34 PM on September 4
A garbage bag with King’s face on it…what genius dreamed THAT one up? The possibilities for humor are endless.
Garbage In, Garbage Out…
Everyone KNEW he was full of garbage…
etc. etc.
Posted by Wild Eyed Charlie at 8:58 PM on September 4
Every despot since recorded time has put his image on everything. From the Egyptians to Mao to Stalin to Saddam.
When a despot is gone, people clean up the mess they left they were forced to endure. These people have it backwards. This is mindless hero-worship at its worst.
Posted by sbuffalonative at 9:12 PM on September 4
But many of those moves have carried a stigma: many Martin Luther King Jr. streets, avenues, ways and boulevards are in low-income, crime-ridden areas.
Oh so true! But actually that works out quite well.
When you are in an unfamiliar town and see an ‘MLK’ street sign, you know to avoid the area and everything in it.
MLK nearly always translates into “Warning—black neighborhood”. At least it does in every place that I’ve ever seen it.
Posted by kitty at 9:45 PM on September 4
Oh my goodness, King certainly has to be treated with the utmost respect…after all, he’s the man who taught whites to hate themselves!
Posted by Tim in Indiana at 9:56 PM on September 4
Why in the name of sweet reason would King County Washington have adopted Martin Luther King’s profile as part of their seal? Washington state even today has a low black population and during the civil rights era it was probably almost non-existent. I can see majority black communities in the south honoring MLK but what does he have to do with the history of Washington state? Don’t the people out in Washington state have any history of their own to commemorate? I for one would like to see a statue put up to the brave patriots of the American Legion and other veterans groups that beat the hell out of the communist “wobblies” down on the docks. White communists and race traitors have been working for 80 years now to destroy this country. The United States is like a bridge that has been sabotaged by a small portion of the workers who built it. They have sawed half way through the cables and left out bolts all over the place. One day the whole shoddy thing is going to fall apart and we will ALL drown.
Posted by Enough at 10:10 PM on September 4
” just wonder what will happen in the year 2027, when the extensive sealed records on this man are opened to public scrutiny.”
I wouldn’t count on any of the records that tell the real story of King to be released in 2027. There will, of course, be a release of several thousands of documents, with blackened out information, with that same old tired excuse - on the grounds of national security. But don’t expect to learn anything more than we are already know or have speculated on.
We all know (that is - the reasonable people in this country) that King is not the saint he has been made to be. That he plagarized some of his speeches, that he committed adultery and that he took money from the Communist Party USA. Were an alien to land today from Planet XYZ, he would think that King was the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, those of us who have been around since the 60’s, know better
Whatever the reasons are for elevating this man to such heights, is beyond me. If anybody can provide me with an answer to that question - I would be enternally grateful.
I do believe that whatever records the government has on King, bad, rotten and/or disgusting, we are never going to see them. The powers in this country have already gone way over board to put MLK on a pedestal (pun intended, considering all the statutes of him we have look at), I can’t imagine that anything negative about him that has been proven and is in writing will ever see the light of day.
And just think, pretty soon when we take our kids to DC, there will be King Martin, right smack in the middle of the men who gave us America and really did intend to lay down their lives for its preservation.
Posted by Gayle Sollenberger at 9:43 AM on September 5
“Too bad his heirs didn’t copyright that mug shot……they could have raked in extra $$$$.”
Maybe one of US should do it. In OUR name of course. Then we’d get royalties off of everything that shows his face.
Kind of like reparations for all the Channon Christians.
Posted by Wild Eyed Charlie at 10:58 AM on September 5
I was in Tulsa, OK and stopped at the chamber of commerce for info. I asked the nice lady if she could point out to me on the map where “colored town” was and she looked shocked and said she was not allowed to answer such questions. I then asked her where “Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard” was and she smiled and pointed it out on the map.
Posted by at 1:49 PM on September 5
Here’s a fun fact for all of you that live outside WA. The highest crime rate/gang activity/murder/rape/theft in WA State IS in Seattle in *drumroll* MLK Way/Rainier Ave! Also note that this small piece of S. Seattle has the highest black population. Not really relevant to the story, but still worth noting as I do live here in WA and one county away.
Posted by WA voter at 4:14 PM on September 5
“Washington state even today has a low black population and during the civil rights era it was probably almost non-existent.”
Actually there was a higher percentage of blacks in Washington state during the 60’s and 70’s than there is now. Many blacks have fled the “Brown Invasion” of innumerable, unstoppable Hispanics who will not tolerate black nonsense. (Not that they are any better…)
Posted by at 4:27 PM on September 5
Kitty,
Funny you mention the type of areas he is named after. Des Moines changed Harding Boulevard to MLK (many years ago) and big surprise here, the area that Boulevard runs through was always black and a known crack area. Need I mention the drive-bys?
I never conformed and always called it Harding but now that you mention it, mlk is so much more fitting. mlk it is.
I haven’t lived in Des Moines for eight years now. Lucky, lucky me! I went back for a funeral a few months ago and got into an argument with a hispanic at Dahl’s (Grocery) for not speaking English. He was very loud. I was in the next aisle over. He was heading for the beer, naturally. I let him have it, with cuss words.
These people have made it very clear; “We” do not count. “We” are not included in their “plans” for the future.
Our Culture, Values, Traditions and Language are not valued in the slightest. I do give the aliens credit for one thing though; they are not hiding it anymore.
Last but certainly not least, I am very happy to report that no one, from the Meat Manager that was standing right there to the Cop on the other side of the store said one word to me. And I was very LOUD. I’ve done the same thing at Costco (again, no one said anything to me) in King of Prussia except it was the indians and Chinese that time. It sounded like the Tower of Babel and I just couldn’t take it. I will never go quietly into that Good Night..
Posted by at 6:06 PM on September 5
I remember ten years ago a friend and I went to Underground Atlanta and it was full of shops and kiosks selling MLK souvenirs, portraits, plaques, candles, etc, the kind of tacky junk you’d find in an Elvis Presley gift shop.
Posted by at 11:22 PM on September 5
I live in Seattle and was startled when the newspaper announced this statesmanlike little decision on the part of black County Executive Ron Sims and his mostly-black, all-liberal County Council. We were treated to a long series of articles in each of the local dailies extolling the virtues of Sims, King, and the decision.
I had no idea it was even being debated. I took a small unscientific poll of acquaintances. Did you see this coming? No. Did you want them to do this? Shrug.
So I Googled back articles of our local papers. *One* local paper ran *one* tiny article announcing the County Council was considering this, about a year before they went and did it. They voted it in basically in the middle of the night, then kicked off about six weeks of propaganda telling us what a Great Thing [tm] it was.
Puke.
Posted by at 3:44 AM on September 6
I wouldn’t count on any of the records that tell the real story of King to be released in 2027. There will, of course, be a release of several thousands of documents, with blackened out information, with that same old tired excuse - on the grounds of national security. But don’t expect to learn anything more than we are already know or have speculated on.
No one seriously could think that any thing bad said about such a man would have any influence on his saint hood would they??” For F..ks sake, the blacks don’t care about the VISIBLE, ONGOING shenanigans of people like Kwame, Berry, Nagin, Wright or OBAMA, why should ancient history matter to their self entitlement attitude.
Posted by Skip at 10:40 AM on September 7
“I was in Tulsa, OK and stopped at the chamber of commerce for info. I asked the nice lady if she could point out to me on the map where “colored town” was and she looked shocked and said she was not allowed to answer such questions. I then asked her where “Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard” was and she smiled and pointed it out on the map.”
Weird! In a country of free speech, a simple question not worded ‘properly’ has already been prepared for! We really are now in the ‘Twilight Zone’ period of U.S. history. (‘Twilight’ also as in the sense of approaching the end.)
Posted by Thrasymachus at 11:28 PM on September 7
Now King’s ugly face is on King Co. letterhead, etc. As a sidebar, I am amazed that someone with face as fat and as bland as King’s, could have been only 39. His pictures make him look at least 50 or 55. Had he lived into the 80s or 90s, he would probably have weighed 300 or 350.
Posted by at 7:09 PM on September 15