# Controversial new Martin Luther King statue - What do you think?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 7, 2011, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151 "2011-07-07T06:45:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/1 "2011-07-07T06:45:18Z")
Statue is generating controversy because some claim it is too confrontational and too “Asian” looking. The King family is very satisfied with it. I have to admit technically it’s well done, but re the expression on this face and his posture it does look like he’s thinking about giving someone an ass beating.
What do you think?
[MLK son defends controversial statue](http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/6356558-418/mlk-son-defends-controversial-statue.html)
Here are some pics.
[Pic 1](http://hiphophoney.com/files/2011/01/mlk-monument.jpg)
[Pic 2](http://assets.portfolio.com/images/site/editorial/magazine/2008/05/mlk-stone-monument-large.jpg)
[Pic 3](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4679487578_d573632e5d.jpg)
[From Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._National_Memorial)
> [@](#):
>
> Sculptor and stone choice
>
> It was announced in January 2007 that Lei Yixin, an artist from the People’s Republic of China, would sculpt the centerpiece of the memorial, including the statue of King[17] and the “Stone of Hope”. The commission was criticized by human rights activist Harry Wu on the grounds that Lei had sculpted Mao Zedong. It also stirred accusations that it was based on financial considerations, because the Chinese government would make a $25 million donation to help meet the projected shortfall in donations. The president of the memorial’s foundation, Harry E. Johnson, who first met Lei in a sculpting workshop in Saint Paul, Minnesota, stated that the final selection was done by a mostly African American design team and was based solely on artistic ability.[18]
>
> Gilbert Young, an African American artist known for a work of art entitled He Ain’t Heavy, led a protest against the decision to hire Lei by launching the website King Is Ours, demands that an African American artist to be used for the monument.[19] Human rights activist and arts advocate Ann Lau and American stone carver Clint Button joined Young and national talk show host Joe Madison in advancing the protest when the use of Chinese granite was discovered.[20] Lau decried the human rights record of the Chinese government and asserted that the granite would be mined by workers forced to toil in unsafe and unfair conditions.[21] Button argued that the $10 million in federal money that has been authorized for the King project required it to be subject to an open bidding process.[22]
>
> The memorial’s design team visited China in October 2006 to inspect potential granite to be used.[23] The project’s foundation has argued that the quality of the Chinese granite exceeds that which can be found in the United States.[24]
>
> Young’s King Is Ours petition demands that an African American artist and American granite be used for the national monument, arguing the importance of such selections as a part of the memorial’s legacy. The petition has received support from American granite workers[25][26] and from the California State Conference of the NAACP.[27][28]
>
> In May 2008, the CFA, one of the agencies which must approve all elements of the memorial, raised concerns about “the colossal scale and Social Realist style of the proposed sculpture,” noting that it “recalls a genre of political sculpture that has recently been pulled down in other countries.”[24] The commission did, however, approve the final design in September 2008.[15]
>
> In September 2010, the foundation gave written promises that it would use local stonemasons to assemble the memorial. However, when construction began in October, it appeared that only Chinese laborers would be used. The Washington area local of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftsworkers union investigated and determined that the workers are not being paid on a regular basis, with all of their pay being withheld until they return to China.[29]
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/2 "2011-07-07T06:49:29Z")
I think it looks great. I see zero problem with it.
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### Author:  [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/3 "2011-07-07T06:51:06Z")
If you look at the eyes in the photo above the sculptors head in pic 1, they look identical. I think this is more a backlash to the artist’s nationality. As far as him looking serious, he was serious about a serious issue, it would be stupid to make him a Disney character.
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### Author:  [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/4 "2011-07-07T06:59:37Z")
I like it. MLKJr was an intense, passionate man, and the statue reflects that. People seem to think that “civil disobedience” meant “don’t every get fucking angry about anything,” but MLKJr’s speeches indicates a deep and righteous anger that he just happened to be able to channel into something other than violence.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/5 "2011-07-07T07:42:41Z")
“They call me \*Dr. \*King!”
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/6 "2011-07-07T08:45:17Z")
I have no problem with it.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/7 "2011-07-07T08:55:59Z")
> [@Kolga](#):
>
> I like it. MLKJr was an intense, passionate man, and the statue reflects that. People seem to think that “civil disobedience” meant “don’t every get fucking angry about anything,” but MLKJr’s speeches indicates a deep and righteous anger that he just happened to be able to channel into something other than violence.
Even the “I Have A dream” speech stated that it was about collecting a bill that had not yet been paid.
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/8 "2011-07-07T09:32:52Z")
I thought that it looked like him, though in a stereotype manner rather than exact photographic representation style. I don’t see why people should get their giblets in an uproar about it.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/9 "2011-07-07T10:23:14Z")
The head by itself looks a little weird, but in the others it looks fine.
The one with just the head seems more like it came from a line drawing, rather than a photograph. But that might be because it’s not designed to be seen from that close. Or, seeing as the artist appears to still be working on it, it may just be incomplete.
The one thing that does not seem wrong with it is the facial expression. As others have said, he a was a fiery, passionate person. The level of anger given in the OP would have much more severe furrowing and squinting, and would show much more tense muscles. And likely he would not be able to keep his mouth so perfect.
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/10 "2011-07-07T11:16:45Z")
The [final version](http://www.suntimes.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.common.streams.StreamServer.cls?STREAMOID=U2SVQ_cUbuKIxwNszEgB58$daE2N3K4ZzOUsqbU5sYvVV3LezNeomsKNv1$qeWOTWCsjLu883Ygn4B49Lvm9bPe2QeMKQdVeZmXF$9l$4uCZ8QDXhaHEp3rvzXRJFdy0KqPHLoMevcTLo3h8xh70Y6N_U_CryOsw6FTOdKL_jpQ-&CONTENTTYPE=image/jpeg) looks good to me. Looks like a good likeness, too, which is more than you can say for a lot of statuary.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/11 "2011-07-07T12:08:28Z")
That’s an awesome statue, and the naysayers seem like racist/jingoist idiots. I’m all for affirmative action, but really…
Hey, I’ve got some news for them - Lady Liberty? That bitch is _French_! Made with French-donated copper!! Possibly from Norway!!!
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/12 "2011-07-07T12:46:18Z")
For whatever reason the url for the first pic is blocked here at work. Eh? But as for the statue itself, yes it does look a little confrontational, no it should’t be changed, and people really whine about everything, don’t they? I mean, the King family is happy with it, so STFU.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/13 "2011-07-07T14:09:31Z")
I like it. As it happens, I get solicitations to donate to the project now and then.
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### Author:  [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/14 "2011-07-07T14:20:31Z")
[ ](https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4679487578_d573632e5d.jpg)
That one really captures the defiance of the Civil Rights movement. It wasn’t a passive movement it was a movement of peaceful confrontation and defiance.
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/15 "2011-07-07T14:22:00Z")
Now let’s talk about whether the monument should have been made from Georgia granite taken from Stone Mountain – for the symbolic value and for the connection to the “I have a dream” speech.
That would have seemed perfectly poetic to me.
A sample from Stone Mountain was submitted for possible use in the monument, but the granite actually chosen was imported from China.
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### Author:  [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/16 "2011-07-07T14:27:13Z")
I like it, too. As it happens, I was in DC over Memorial Day Weekend, and saw the construction site of the Memorial close up. Even in its unfinished state, it was quite moving. The “Stone of Despair, Stone of Hope” concept is very cool. I can’t wait to see the finished product.
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### Author:  [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/17 "2011-07-07T14:38:46Z")
I’m fine with it, nice work. Stone Mountain granite would have been a nice touch, but maybe the sculptor was more used to working Chinese stone. What would be PERFECT would be carving it into Stone Mountain itself … about five times as big as those Confederates … heh. You wanna talk about an uproar!
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### Author:  [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/18 "2011-07-07T14:39:40Z")
Like everyone else, I quite like it. Yes, MLK looks like he’s come to the Mall to kick ass and chew gum, and has run out of gum. But that’s absolutely true to the man. This may end up as my favorite memorial on the Mall, actually.
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### Author:  [@ScatteredFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScatteredFrog)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/19 "2011-07-07T14:41:11Z")
IMHO, the only thing Asian about the statue is the guy standing next to it. Even then, who cares???
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-new-martin-luther-king-statue-what-do-you-think/588151/20 "2011-07-07T14:42:25Z")
Looks OK to me but he wasn’t that heavy in _Beverley Hills Cop_.
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