Posted on 08/25/2007 1:42:31 PM PDT by Serb5150
WASHINGTON - The selection of a Chinese sculptor to carve a three-story monument to Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall is raising questions about what part of his legacy should be celebrated.
King promoted peace and understanding among all people. His primary fight, however, was to win particular opportunities for blacks in the United States by juxtaposing the plight of an oppressed people against a message of freedom and democracy.
A loose-knit but growing group of critics says a black artist — or at least an American — should have been chosen to create the King memorial between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials in the nation's capital. They have been joined by human rights advocates who say King would have abhorred the Chinese government's record on religious and civil liberty.
"They keep saying King was for everyone. I keep telling people, 'No, King wasn't for everyone. King was for fairness and justice,'" said Gilbert Young, a black painter from Atlanta who has started a Web site and a petition drive to try to change the project.
"I believe that black artists have the right to interpret ourselves first," Young said. "If nobody steps up to the plate to do that, then certainly pass it along to someone else."
The memorial foundation directing the project seems surprised at the criticism. Ten of the 12 people on the committee that chose the sculptor, Lei Yixin, are black. Lei is working closely on the design with two black sculptors in the U.S., organizers said, and the overall project is being directed by a black-owned architecture firm.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
There must be something wrong with the content of the Chinese sculptor's character. It couldn't be the color of his skin, could it?
What does "fairness and justice" mean? Does it have something to do with being "judged by the color of their skin," or something?
Owl_Eagle
If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.
The fact that there is squabbling over who, as in what race or ethnicity, does this particular sculpture says clearly enough that Brother King’s dream remains deferred. His successors have seen to that.
The Chinese are predominantly hard working, entrepreneurial and self sufficient - concepts which are anathema to the racial victimhood industry, so of course their color isn’t quite right for the job.
Interesting, considering America's most famous symbol, the Statue of Liberty, was made in France.
I would think that ‘fairness and justice’ would result in the most qualified candidate being given the commission, regardless of skin color. No doubt Mr. Young would agree with that, provided the most qualified candidate also happened to be black.
And Socialism, and plagiarism, etc.
Still admire the man for having the balls to march through SW Chicago, to say nothing of the March on Washington.
Does this mean no black artist could paint or sculpt a white person?? Nah, didn’t think so.
Isn’t it amazing how things have turned upside down. For heaven’s sake, what should King be known for if not advocating for a color-blind society? Now we have someone going balistic about a Chinaman creating King’s statue. I think he would be incredibly impressed at the prospect.
Now, off to my beef with this. 36 feet tall? Should this statue dwarf the memorials of our other nation’s greats? Absolutely not!
It grates me something fierce that our education system has tried to eclipse the founders and other great men, with the story of King. Give King his due as a figurehead if you will, but don’t you dare place him above our founders and other significant national personas.
King is by no means the most important man in U.S. History and the move to give him that title is terribly misguided and fraudulent.
Totally agree with your post.
Thank you.
Bingo!
Anyway, as we move farther and farther away from the sixties, Dr. King’s legacy is less and less significant.
A gargantuan thirty foot tall monument is simply uncalled for.
....Geez, at three stories tall it’ll be taller than Honest Abe in the Lincoln Memorial....what a joke!....why do Rebublican politicians continue to walk around with their lips firmly sutured to black Democrat asses?
"Fairness and justice" means that black people have been oppressed, so they deserve special treatment. How dare they hire a Chinese sculptor??!! We want preferential treatment!
IMHO, because MLK was assassinated, the left has elevated him to the status of a god. Had he have lived, he would have been another Rev. Jessie Jackson or Rev. Sharpton. The FBI has a big file on him and it's sealed until the next decade or so. MLK had communist ties, plagarized his PhD thesis, and frequented prostitutes. No one is a saint, that's for sure. But since he was "martyred", he is now a saint.
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