Reply #81: It is a very ugly statue

[fasttense]

that makes me afraid of MLK. Really, that mean closed off look would make most people leave a man like that alone. The statue of Lincoln does not look mean so much as it looks sad.

This statue of a man would yell at me if I said good morning in the wrong tone of voice. It reminds me of a very bad boss I once had. Perhaps that was the ultimate goal of the sculptor - to make you afraid and to see MLK like a big bad boss.

And of course the quote about being a drum major makes him sound like a big bad boss.

King said, "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."

"On Tuesday, Angelou, who consulted on the memorial, told The Washington Post that the shortened version of those words sounds egotistical and should be changed.

It reads: "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness."

The phrase is inscribed on a statue of King without quotation marks because it is paraphrased. It is not grouped with 14 quotations from King that are part of the memorial plaza.

The paraphrased version "minimizes the man," said the 83-year-old Angelou. "It makes him seem less than the humanitarian he was. ... It makes him seem an egotist.""

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/31/maya-angelou-mlk-quote_n_943567.html