If you're looking for a story not directly related to spin (except for those Republicans who will no doubt oversimplify and distort King's message when trying to look good by supporting his memorial), check out the King memorial and fundraising campaign for it. One thing seems eerie to me.
In his 1967 book, "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?" Martin Luther King, Jr. describes many of his views on how to achieve full human rights and equality in the world. At the same time, he expresses his frustration at the slow pace of change in society. In one of the most powerful metaphors I've heard, he compares the struggle for a just society to waves breaking against the sides of a rock that juts up from the water in stormy seas. The waves can crash and crash against the rock with great force and a tremendous roar, but the rock will still be there once they recede. In fact, the rock will still be there long after we and our children are dead. In geological time, it could take thousands and thousands of years for the waves to erode that rock completely.
Now, I learn that the MLK memorial on the mall in DC will include a large rock jutting up at the shore of the tidal basin (although not out of the water). They are going for the "Stone of hope from a mountain of misery" metaphor, but the irony of placing King himself in the stone jutting up near the shore, seems like it could not be lost on anyone who read his 1967 work. The designers probably did not.
Click here to see an artist's depiction of the statue.
The statue includes this inscription:
"When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
But leaves out the rest of what King said about the Promissory Note, likely because the designers do not consider it relevant today. King went on to say:
"It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice."
Click here for the full text of King's "I Have a Dream" Speech.
On the bright side, the memorial will include a timeline of quotes from King, not just those up until 1964. Many politicians like to ignore the last few years of his career, because they do not fit in so well with the dialectic of King as Uncle Tom and Malcolm as Violent Radical. (The same goes for the last few years of Malcolm's life, as well). It's just a shame America is so collectively blind to its own history. I hope this memorial will help change that, but I have my doubts.
Posted by Mike at May 11, 2003 02:42 PM | TrackBack