yeah, that doesn't surprise me; the Democrats and the Republican parties are unrecognizable from what they were years ago. the Dems in the south were like today's neo-cons.

but i think that King would definitely be a VERY conservative dem.

in the south, i know a great deal of whites and blacks who may vote for Dems, but they are angered by talk of gay rights, etc. it goes against the church. in fact, there is simply NO discussion about it, or Jews, or abortion.

and i also have to say that in MY lifetime, i have seen more practice of racism in the north (esp. in Chicago, which is a very segregated place) i think the north has always thought it didn't have these kinds of problems. but i lived in Tennessee for seventeen years and it wasn't until i went to school in Chicago that i didn't have regular interaction with blacks in school, as friends; i just didn't get it. and people assumed bc i was from the south, i came from a rich family of former slave owners. East Tennessee is not like that.

one group that did stand out there A LOT were the Catholics. but that's a whole other blog.