WASHINGTON (AP) — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar endorsed a plan Tuesday to remove a disputed inscription from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, rather than cut into the granite to replace it with a fuller quotation.
Salazar said he had reached an agreement with King's family, the group that built the memorial and the National Park Service to remove a paraphrase from King's
"Drum Major" speech by carving grooves over the lettering to match
existing marks in the sculpture. Memorial sculptor Lei Yixin recommended
removing the inscription this way to avoid harming the monument's
structural integrity.
Critics including poet Maya Angelou complained after the memorial opened in 2011 that the paraphrased quotation took King's
words out of context, making him sound arrogant. The paraphrase reads:
"I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness."
The full quotation was taken from a 1968 sermon about two months before King
was assassinated. It reads: "Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum
major, say that I was a drum major for justice. 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."
In a statement provided to
The Associated Press, Salazar explained the resolution of the long
disagreement over the inscription and how it should be repaired.
"I
am proud that all parties have come together on a resolution that will
help ensure the structural integrity of this timeless and powerful
monument to Dr. King's life and legacy," Salazar said.
Work is scheduled to begin after the presidential inauguration, which falls on the King
holiday, to commence in February or March of 2013 with completion
expected in the spring, according to federal officials. The National
Park Service expects thousands of people to visit the site around the
time of King's birthday in January and didn't want to obstruct their views.
Federal officials will submit plans to two panels that must review and approve the design work.
Lei,
the original sculptor, will perform the stone work to remove the
inscription. The memorial will remain open to visitors during the
project, though the statue of King may be obstructed at times by scaffolding.
In a joint statement released by the U.S. Interior Department, King's family voiced support for the new plan. King's youngest daughter Bernice King, who is chief executive of the King
Center in Atlanta, thanked Salazar and the National Park Service for
taking "care to maintain the spirit and appearance of such an important
monument to our country's history and my father's memory."
King's sister, Christine King Farris, said the family had wanted the entire quotation to be inscribed in the memorial.
"While
our family would have of course preferred to have the entire 'Drum
Major' quote used, we fully endorse and support the secretary's
proposal," she said.
The group that built the memorial said it was pleased with the compromise of removing the inscription.
Ed
Jackson Jr., the memorial's executive architect, told the AP that the
lettering will be replaced with horizontal "movement lines" that are
already part of the design to show the movement of the central "Stone of
Hope" out of a "Mountain of Despair" behind it.
The design was inspired by a line from King's
"I Have a Dream" speech: "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of
hope." That message is inscribed on the other side of the sculpture and
will remain.
Cutting granite out of the sculpture and replacing it
to make way for a longer quotation would have looked like a "patch job"
forever, Jackson said. Removing the inscription retains the integrity
of the artwork, he said.
"We had put forth this idea over a year
ago. It took a while for everyone to come to an agreement that everyone
could live with," Jackson said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
This Jan. 15, 2012 file photo shows the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, with the quote carved on the side of new memorial in Washington that will be changed.
