Quickest Fix for MLK Monument

I'm not sure why I haven't focused more attention on the controversy over the Martin Luther King monement's inscription that "I was a drum major for peace, justice, and righteousness."  I guess perhaps I don't find it such a misrepsentation of Dr. King as others -- those are, after all, his words -- even if taken somewhat from context.  I guess it may be that all those years of reading gravestones has left me with the realization that if you're reducing a life to a line or two, you're going to have to flatten out a lot of nuance.  But we're going to re-write it.  The precedent for this includes the Strom Thurmond monument at the South Carolina statehouse, where an artisan used caukling and a chisel to change the number of children from four to five and to add the name of Strom's daughter, Essie Mae.  God I love American history!

Anyway, this leads me to ask, how can the monument be changed the easiest?  I'd say change the "I" to "He."  Any better suggestions?

The Washington Post's Rachel Mantueffel has the full story here.

Comments

[Harry]

What actually strikes me is the terrible art historical reference that the statute unintentionally invokes. Because Dr. King is part of the rock, it is reminiscent of Michelangelo's bound slaves series, suggesting that Dr. King is a slave. I know that it is not what the artist intended, but sheezh!

[Stephanie Farrior]

For me, the words are not simply "taken somewhat" out of context. They misrepresent Dr. King and what he said in a fundamentally important way.

Since the words are already all in upper case, here's a simple fix: Fill in the first two words so that it becomes a declarative statement: "A DRUM MAJOR FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS." This would be a fitting response to what he actually said, and from an artistic standpoint, though it would throw off the current center-justified spacing of the two lines, it would result in an arrangement of words that shows movement.

[Bill Turnier]

With the example of Strom Thurmond's grave stone in mind we can now appreciate the value of Roman numerals. A correction would only have required an ornamental gouge to the left of the V. And if another child were to surface, an I could simply be added to the right. If there was enough room, the stone cutter could accommodate up to 8 children.

[Alfred Brophy]

Stephanie--I like your suggestion -- even easier than mine, because all we'd have to do is to fill in four letters. I suppose that filling in may be more difficult than drilling more -- the fill in at Strom T's monument wasn't perfect, but I do think that may very well have the best solution.

Harry and Bill -- points well taken.