Posted on 08/28/2011 5:56:34 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Post Columnist Says King Monument is Stalin-like
A Washington Post columnist has criticized the new Martin Luther King, Jr. monument, while his paper is publishing a 24-page special supplement hailing the unveiling of the “Stone of Hope” in the memorial that includes the 30-foot tall statue of the civil rights leader.
Black columnist Courtland Milloy writes, “Let’s face it: There really is something peculiar about having an artist from communist China sculpt the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial statue. And, yes, it would have been fantastic had an African American sculptor been chosen instead.”
He adds, “The sculpture is based on a 1966 photograph of King taken in his office in Atlanta, standing at his desk, with a picture of Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi on a wall in the background. In it, King has soft eyes and an open face that conveys the blessed assurance of a man who walks by faith. Lei Yixin has turned those eyes into something of a steely squint. The result is a stern colossus, dressed no less in a style of suit similar to ones found on many statues of Stalin.”
Milloy goes on to complain about the fact that the sculptor and the monument are from China. He writes, “…the fact remains that Lei hails from a country that oppresses ethnic minorities, exploits its workers, and jails human-rights activists and the attorneys who try to defend them. In their day, King and civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall would likely have been taken by the Red Guard and never heard from again.”
The Red Guards were Mao’s representatives who would beat and kill people and destroy property in the name of revolution. One of their slogans was, “Smash the old world; build a new world.”
(Excerpt) Read more at aim.org ...
File this one under IRONY
Courtland Milloy’s column “Having a black sculptor for King would have been nice” linked @
Mr. Obama tear down that statue!........
Milloy’s only problem with Stalin is that he wasn’t black.
Just another racist example of why DIVERSITY blows!
We were in DC a couple of weeks ago and saw the King Memorial and wasn’t impressed. They were putting the finishing touches on it but still, I thought it was mediocre.
However,the WW2 memorial was very impressive!
Looks more like Mugabe in a Mao suit.
“Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. Skousen claimed that an American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.””
king looks chinese! and part black.
There is a huge segment of people that are not happy with this memorial. Who in their right minds commissioned the Chinese do make this?
The statue is grotesque.
It is an insult to the memory of Dr. King.
I have in my mind a photograph of about 6-8 people dressed in black. They all have white, expressionless face masks. They are kneeling before the statue with their hands raised as in prayer and/or praise.
The guy didn’t even finish it! /s
The same people who paid the King family ~$880,000 dollars to use his words and likeness.
That is nasty.
Well since King was a Communist it seems fitting.
This depiction of King is slanderous, trashy amateur schlock. Far beyond ugly it is a vicious slander. This dispicable granite slab absolutely must be removed from public display and replaced with a genuinely artistic rendition of MLK worthy of his place in American history. It is an insult to one of the great moments in American history.
Is there a cultural committee in DC that has failed in its duty to approve monuments for their aesthetic and professional character?
The entire black community must be enraged that this ugly rendition of one of their greatest heroes has slandered him in the most formal and permanent manner possible.
Surely Martin’s enemies are celebrating.
Agree 100%.
Visit any post-Soviet country to see similar stalinist statues in public space. I’ve seen many and have photographs of them.
Back in 2008, another Post columnist, Marc Fisher, complained that the planned monument depicted King “in the arrogant stance of a dictator, clad in a boxy suit, with an impassive, unapproachable mien, looking more like an East Bloc Politburo member than an inspirational, transformational preacher who won a war armed with nothing but truth and words.”
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