I was reading a little about this man mainly because his daughter is a Labour Member of Parliament, though ironically considered to be on the right of the party, and a staunch supporter of the Iraq War. I was just wondering how well known is he, or would only specialists in the civil-rights movement know him in America?

Never heard of him.

I havent either.

i haven't heard of him. if he's a politician in britain, then i think the answer for about 99% of americans will be that they don't know who he is. we are only familiar with tony blair, the man in charge. similarly, i would think many americans are only familiar with george w bush (and probably john kerry due to the recent election). i would be surprised if an englishman was able to name a senator from colorado, or virginia, or new hampshire.

Preston king, i dont know either..

but Preston is a well knwn name, and king is also well known, but when you put preton and king together, no one knows.

^Prestonking... youre right, it doesn't ring a bell.........

Nope haven't heard of him.

I live in London and I must admit I've never heard of him.

The only modern political figurehead in the UK that most Americans know of is Tony Blair.

He's an African-American, and was a close ally of Martin Luther-King though is no relation, his daughter is a politician in Britain, where he fled to avoid the draft.

Out of interest and being blunt, is everyone who replied non-afican-amerian?

I wasn't very clear in my first post, but to be honest the CNN Article I read presnted him as a leading figure in the civil-rights movement, so perhaps well known to those who studied it, obviously not.

Never heard of him.

Well I think I have had my answer, I think you'd have to have a pretty deep knowledge of the whole civil-rights movement to have heard of him, judging by the comments here, certainly I hadn't heard of him until I stumbled across him in an article, but I guessed in America, he might be a little more well known, he must have been a relatively small part in the civil-rights movement, or perhaps its an older generation thing.

Thanks.

There was a draft in Britian?

No the draft in america, he fled to uk to avoid the us draft, but I've heard of him, and I know he was involved in some civil rights thing, didn't know 'bout his daughter, or much else about him.

He's an African-American, and was a close ally of Martin Luther-King though is no relation, his daughter is a politician in Britain, where he fled to avoid the draft.

Out of interest and being blunt, is everyone who replied non-afican-amerian?

Are blacks in the UK referred to as "African-Americans"?

^ Why would they be?

What a stupid question.

"African-Britts"

They should be call British like everyone else in Britian. I've never heard of him. I'm black.

He's an African-American, and was a close ally of Martin Luther-King though is no relation, his daughter is a politician in Britain, where he fled to avoid the draft.

Out of interest and being blunt, is everyone who replied non-afican-amerian?

how is he African-American, if he is in Britan???

Because he was born in America, and lived there for most of his life, until he fled the draft. I don't think he took UK Citizenship.

The vietnam draft? If it is thats 30 years!

I've never heard of him either, and I'm African-American. I would guess that maybe 1/5 of Americans could name the current prime minister of Great Britain (or alternatively, correctly state what Tony Blair does for a living). Beyond that, our knowledge of British political figures is nil. And I agree that the same thing goes for U.S. political figures in other countries, although given the Iraq war, names like Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, and Donald Rumsfeld might register with non-Americans now.

As for the idea that American blacks would be more likely to know black political figures overseas, that's probably true of only a tiny percentage of people involved in politics or government.