Controversial MLK Memorial inscription to be removed

[alp227]

Source: CNN

The controversial "drum major" inscription on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington will be removed rather than replaced under a plan announced Tuesday by federal officials.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a news release that the move followed consultation with a "range of stakeholders" who concurred with the decision.

Initially, plans called for the quote to be corrected. But the original sculptor, Lei Yixin, said removal was the best way to ensure the structural integrity of the memorial, the National Park Service said.

The site features a commanding 30-foot statue of King, arms folded across his chest, emerging from a "Stone of Hope."

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/11/us/mlk-memorial-inscription/index.html

[Occulus]

1. The entire thing should be removed and destroyed

The sculpture and its choice of "artist" was an insult from the beginning.

[greyghost]

11. AMEN eom

[Overseas]

2. His original statement was more poetic, and there's enough room to put the whole thing on.

He said so many wonderful things. Lots of choices for great quotes.

[Kablooie]

3. The whole sculpture is a cornball piece of kitsch.

Not at all fitting as a memorial for him.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. One of the best speakers, ever.

I don't much care for this statue, but think his quotes should be included in their entirety. His wise words should never be forgotten.

[defacto7]

5. It's his words that are important

not a block of stone. The image should be secondary. The art should not be the point at all in fact the artist should not be even mentioned. It's a monument to the artist.

[DeSwiss]

6. K&R

[mountain grammy]

12. This is one of my favorite quotes from Dr. King.

I feel blessed to have lived on this earth at the same time as Martin Luther King. I've thought this memorial was too cold and too massive to teach future generations about Dr. King's humility and humanity, so it's even more important, to me, that his words be accurate.

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. Angelou is correct. The truncation changes the entire meaning. n/t

[fasttense]

8. The whole project is a monument to neoliberal, free traders.

From getting a Chinese sculptor to do it at half price, to shipping in the stone in from China, to hiring workers on visas from China and threatening NOT to pay them should they refuse to return to Communist China, to choosing a memorial that makes MLK look like an arrogant Chinese despot, the thing is a monument to the trickle down economics that Milton Friedman and Ann Ryan would have loved.

It is a travesty to MLK's memory.

[IrishAle]

9. I always thought the best words to place ..

.. would simply be "Freedom"

That word alone speaks louder than any speech, any chant or cheer.

that one word to me shouts everything that MLK stood for and defended.

[Odin2005]

10. The whole statue is a complete cock-up and an insult to Martin.