The selection of a Chinese sculptor to carve a three-story monument to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall is creating a split over what part of the civil rights martyr’s legacy should be celebrated.

King promoted peace and understanding among all nationalities. His primary fight, however, was to win particular opportunities for black Americans by juxtaposing the plight of an oppressed people against a message of freedom and democracy.

A loose-knit but growing group of critics is demanding that a black sculptor, or at least an American, should have been chosen to create the King memorial between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials in the National Mall, an expanse of green in the heart of the capital with the country’s most revered monuments. The protesters have been joined by human rights advocates who say King would have abhorred the Chinese government’s record on religious and civil liberties.

“They keep saying King was for everyone. I keep telling people, ‘No, King wasn’t for everyone. King was for fairness and justice,’” said Gilbert Young, a black painter from Atlanta who has launched a website and a petition drive to try to change the project.

The memorial foundation directing the project seems surprised at the criticism. Ten of the 12 people on the committee that chose the sculptor, Lei Yixin, are black.

“The bottom line is Dr King’s message that we should judge a person not by the colour of his skin but by the content of his character,” said Harry Johnson, the foundation’s president and CEO.

... contd.