Courthouse named in honor of civil rights attorney C.B. King

ALBANY - About 400 people attended the dedication Friday of a new federal courthouse named after Albany civil rights attorney C.B. King, who fought racist attitudes just for a seat with other attorneys when he went to court in the 1950s. <br> <br> Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Herbert Phipps said, ``It recognizes the accomplishments of a great man who stood up to great adversity. He had the persistence, intelligence and courage to work within the system to change the system.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Phipps worked with King as a law partner in the 1970s. <br> <br> Phipps, one of about a dozen federal, state and local judges at the ceremony, said King persevered, despite threats and vandalism. <br> <br> Also on hand were about 20 members of King&#39;s family, including college professor Preston King, who refused to obey his draft notice because the draft board stopped calling him ``sir&#39;&#39; and ``Mister King&#39;&#39; when members learned he was black. <br> <br> Preston King fled to England and lived in exile until granted a presidential pardon in 2000. <br> <br> Former New York Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, who worked with King in 1963 while she was a Harvard law student, described him as a ``pariah&#39;&#39; in the racist South. <br> <br> Holtzman said, ``He was a hero. ``C.B. King was a very cheerful man. He was always facing physical danger, but he never showed an iota of cowardice. He never gave up, and we have the testament today.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> King, who died in 1988, waged legal battles to end literacy tests barring blacks from voting, to desegregate schools in Albany and other areas and to integrate the Albany city government&#39;s work force. <br> <br> In addition, he worked to increase black representation on juries, and he represented Martin Luther King Junior, who was not related to C.B. King, when he was arrested during a civil rights protest in Albany.