King For One And All

Am I the only one who thinks the outcry against the selection of Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin to carve a three-story monument to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is utterly ridiculous?

This story in the Independent tells us…

The rumpus is over the ethnicity of the sculptor who will carve the monument (which) will be placed between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. But a loose-knit and growing group of critics is demanding that a black sculptor, or at least American, should have been chosen. The protestors have been joined by human rights advocates who say King would have abhorred the Chinese government’s record on religious and civil liberties.

So how is China’s atrocious record on human rights somehow the fault of Lei Yixin?

The story also tells that 10 of the 12 people on the committee who chose Yixin are black. Yixin is also working closely with two black sculptors, and the overall project is being directed by a black-owned architectural firm.

But still, this all isn’t “black” enough apparently for Atlanta painter Gilbert Young, and Ann Lao, a native of China now living in the U.S., who are leading the protest against the selection of Lei Yixin.

Apparently, then, it is important to remind the movement against Yixin that Dr. King was, in addition to a leader among African Americans, a leader among everyone. To imply that his nonviolent protests against segregation and racism were not internationally influenced is nonsense (King notes a debt to India’s struggle for independence in his speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 here).

To claim that Lei Yixin could never honor Dr. King is childish, especially when, as the story notes, he has carved other figures including Mao Tse-tung, so he is defiitely qualified for the work. To me, this sounds like a case of sincere ignorance and/or conscientious stupidity, and nothing in the world is more dangerous than that.

I seem to recall that a great man once said that (he said this also).

Update 8/28/07: Today was a momentous day for Dr. King, as noted here.