State NAACP joins protest of Chinese artist chosen for MLK monument
 

State NAACP joins protest of Chinese artist chosen for MLK monument
Leslie Fulbright, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

State NAACP joins protest of Chinese artist chosen for MLK monument
Lei Yixin, the sculptor at the center of the controversy, examines a model of his Martin Luther King Jr. statue. MLK National Memorial Foundation photo via Associated Press


The California branch of the NAACP has joined a growing protest against the selection of a Chinese artist to sculpt the tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. planned for the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The monument, expected to be finished in time for the 40th anniversary of King's 1968 assassination, has overcome many approval hurdles in the past decade. But now it faces criticism by black artists, American granite workers and others who are angry about the sculptor chosen as the lead artist, both because of his nationality and his history as an artist. Protesters also say American granite rather than Chinese granite should be used for the sculpture.

Sculptor Lei Yixin of Changsha, China, is one of his country's pre-eminent artists and has done government-commissioned pieces of Chinese national figures. He was chosen in February by the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Project, whose officials discovered him at a Minnesota stone-carving symposium in 2006.

The California NAACP is the first chapter of the civil rights organization to pass a resolution condemning the choice, calling it a decision 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."

Lei is "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," states the California organization's resolution, passed last month.

In addition to the concerns over the alleged civil rights violations, protesters say an African American artist should have been commissioned as the lead artist.

In response to the criticism, the memorial's organizers said the project is a team effort. Two African American artists and an African American architectural firm are contributing to the project.

"Dr. King was an international hero. We searched the world looking for a sculptor who could do this work in granite and stone," Harry E. Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the memorial project, said in a phone interview from China, where he was visiting for a look at a clay model of the sculpture. "I respect the NAACP's right to protest, but they need to review all the facts. There are no African American sculptors that do this type of work in granite.

"In addition, Dr. King stood for equality among all people and said we should not judge by the color of skin but the content of their character. He stood for equality among all people."

The sculpture will sit near the site where King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. It will be the first memorial on the Mall not dedicated to a president or military veteran and the first honoring an African American.

Hundreds of people have signed a petition asking project officials to reconsider their selection of the artist, and a Web site, www.kingisours.com, was created by Atlanta artist Gilbert Young to spread the word about the cause.

Young said he started his campaign last spring after he heard about the selection on television. He contacted civil rights organizations and American granite vendors.

"It is disgraceful that there will be a sculpture to honor a black man for his fight against racism in this country and we couldn't find one black person on earth to interpret his likeness," Young said. "It is insulting and does not serve my people well. It makes us invisible.

"I do not think that anyone outside of my immediate community should have been looked at first. We need a black artist to interpret Dr. King and a black name at the base of the monument, because he died for us."

The three-story memorial will be on a 4-acre site on the northeast corner of the Mall's Tidal Basin. Visitors will enter through granite portals with polished surfaces and an image of King carved into granite. A 15-by-600-foot water wall will be inscribed with King quotations chosen by a team that includes Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of Harvard University's African and African American research program. Magnolias, pine and fir trees will surround the memorial. Cherry trees already there usually bloom around the anniversary of King's assassination, April 4.

Conflict over memorials is nothing new. A similar conflict erupted when Maya Lin was chosen in 1981 to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Some people said a Chinese American should not design the tribute. When the National Museum for the American Indian was built on the Mall, officials were adamant that an American Indian architect be used.

"There are constant debates over memorializations," said Jeffrey Trask, an assistant professor of Museum Studies at New York University. "Monument building is always political and highlights conflicts within society. This doesn't seem to be an issue of what history will be represented but who has the cultural rights to represent it.

"Unfortunately, we can't figure out what the impact to the visitor is."

Although the memorial was not as controversial as getting King's birthday declared a national holiday, getting approval for it took years. In 1996, Congress passed a bill authorizing it, and in 1998, President Bill Clinton signed a resolution approving its addition to the National Mall.

After federal officials expressed concern that the Mall was being overbuilt, Congress in 2003 voted to ban further building. The King memorial was among four projects already approved.

The project has raised $86 million of a needed $100 million. A number of corporations have donated cash - General Motors gave $10 million, designer Tommy Hilfiger $5 million and the National Basketball Association $3 million. Movie director George Lucas and BET network co-founder Sheila Johnson donated $1 million each.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../MNP5T81FE.DTL

Since DS didn't post this with the article, here is a pic of his model for the monument.

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/200...lksculptor.jpg

You know what....I like it. If he's the best sculptor for the job, by all means, let him do it - and his work looks beautiful. This is America, where the committee behind this has the right to choose whoever they want to - and they made their decision. And if in fact this statement is true*: "I respect the NAACP's right to protest, but they need to review all the facts. There are no African American sculptors that do this type of work in granite. - Then I think they made the right choice.

*I realize that the validity of the statement will be questioned, hence "if".

Thanks for the pic.

I too like it and for anyone to be up in arms over the choice of artist for MLK's memorial defeats what MLK stood for.

Wow. This guy needs a refresher course in what MLK stood for. I surely can't speak for him, but I'd be willing to bet that MLK himself would say that it shouldn't take a black artist to interpret his message, and if it does, then his message wasn't accurately received.

ETA: I just saw what DS last wrote... looks like we agree on this point.

NAACP's position = Irony

Very simple Sidney:

"Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!


- I Have A Dream

And this is why I usually hate anytime the NAACP speaks out about anything nationally. The higher ups are so out of touch its ridiculous.

Would it be nice if they had gotten a black artist? I guess so, but I don't really care about that aspect.

And for the record, I think that picture was pretty excellent.

Whoo, I know that's just a model, but MLK looks really p.o'd. Hopefully once it's in its true size, he won't so much.

What do you expect from people who make it their job to LOOK for things to be offended by.:rolleyes:

LOL. I hope he does! I mean just imagine how awesome it is to have a huge MLK looming over D.C. with that look!

This reminds me of the history of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that was designed by Maya Lin. Her design actually won a blind competition; the designs were submitted by number not name. Her ethnicity played a pretty big part in the controversy surrounding the selection of her design. She also went on to design the Civil Rights Memorial.

/edit: word choice

I think he may be facing jefferson with his back towards Lincoln....




I wonder if there will be any Masons involved on this project.

Since Jefferson was a slave owner and Lincoln freed the slaves, is there any significance to that? I'd hate to read something into that comment that wasn't there, but it does seem odd to me to point that out.

One of my other friends had pointed that out earlier, so I was curious about that also...and since knowing that parts of DC have a precise layout, I too, am interested in how this all plays out.

and depending on who you hear it from...there are opinions on Jefferson's role in slavery also:

Jefferson freed many of his slaves, a move that was unprecedent for that time. He also had a long time affair with Sally Hemings a fact that is known by many.

However, most people do not know that Sally was his dead wife's half sister. By all reports he treated her with respect and she was considered the mistress of the house while he was alive. He had freed her sons years before although she stayed with him until his death then left to join her son in Ohio. Jefferson was a man who, in some respects, was centuries ahead of his time, a time that would not allow a white man to marry a black woman even if she was half white.

It could just as easily be argued that he and Lincoln are staring TJ down. I suspect it's all about location and what looks best, not about who he's looking at.