 |
In November, California NAACP joined the nationwide
protest against the choice of a Chinese artist sculpting
a tribute to Martin Luther King on the National Mall.
The Martin Luther King Memorial Project chose Chinese
sculptor Lei Yixin to complete the granite sculpture.
In response, the NAACP issued a statement calling the
use of a Chinese sculptor an attempt to outsource "the
production of the monument to Dr. King to the People's
Republic of China, the country with the worst record
of human rights violations and civil rights abuses in
the world." The NAACP feels that it is more appropriate
that the sculpture to be completed by an African-American
artist.
Artist Gilbert Young, who created a site (www.kingisours.com)
protesting Yixin's contract also criticizes the Memorial
Project's decision. Like the NAACP, Young complains
that America is unrightfully outsourcing the production
of the project.
"Among those pretending to be in charge are obviously
too many who cannot see the irony of this decision,"
Young states in a co-written essay online.
Honoring King's legacy
However, it is not the memorial project but the NAACP
and protestors like Young who fail to see the irony of
their protest. King's altruistic, life-consuming goal
was to ensure that people be judged not by the color of
their skin but by their character.
The 12 members of the memorial foundation committee
- 10 of whom are black - have seen past the color of
Yixin's skin and have judged him on his character as
a capable and respected artist.
These protestors need to reread King's words during
his "I Have a Dream" speech: "Now is
the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of
God's children," he said. To demand the project
be halted over an issue of skin color or nationality
would go against the message King died fighting for.
The NAACP does not want a man "renowned for his
many sculptures and busts glorifying Mao Zedong, murderer
of 70 million innocent Chinese, which is in direct opposition
to Dr. King's philosophy and to the ideal of positive
social change throughout the world," to carve the
statue. Yet it is naïve to think that all artists
worship their creations. Some need to pay the bills.
A universal message
The protestors also claim that a Chinese citizen can't
understand the civil rights struggles that American blacks
have gone through. Have they forgotten the Cultural Revolution?
Tiananmen Square? People in China have suffered civil
rights abuses for years. America isn't the only nation
that can empathize with the civil rights struggles.
It is not the artist's name at the base of the sculpture
that matters but what the monument represents. Take
the Statue of Liberty for example. Lady Liberty symbolizes
the values of freedom and independence that America
has given its citizens. Not many remember it was a gift
from the French. In 10 years, people will visit the
statue of King and remember not who carved it, but the
brilliant ideas that King stood for.
|
|
Joplin was able to rise from the ashes because of help from everyone. And I am eternally grateful to anyone who made that possible.
