The MLK statue was revealed and it was discovered the artist who created the statue decided to change the wording of Martin Luther King's quote. The statue reads "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness" The quote comes from a speech just before his death, where he had imagined what his own eulogy would sound like. The artist, Lei Yixin decided to remove the word "if " from the quote and incorrectly quoted Dr. King, making Dr. King sound arrogant. If someone is going to be quoted, the quote should be exact. Apparently, Lei Yixin missed that lesson in school. If they had hired an American Artist to create the statue, they would know the importance of not changing a quote. The artist shouldn't take it upon himself to remove words from the quote. The quote is supposed to read,
"If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice," King said. "Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."
I was disappointed to read that an artist from China was hired to create the statue and a handful of men from China was paid to come and help with the statue. The statue stands as a memorial of the great Dr. King who fought for the rights of not only the African Americans, he fought for equality of everyone. An American Artist should have been chosen to create the statue. Can't anything be made by Americans or are Americans incapable of creating anything? What ever happened to made in America, by Americans? Instead of employing Americans to do the job in this poor economic times, they bring over an Artist from China and his workers, when there are plenty of capable artists right here in the United States.
