Dr King 's statue

[Hien]

I am quite surprise to find out more about this project. Very interesting.

Why on earth do they think that Dr King would approve this giant size statue, created by someone who is famous for being done the monster Mao's statue.
Mao had many peoples killed, he is not in the same caliber and should never be compared with Dr. King.
Frankly, I would prefer an intimate size statue of Dr. King, a real human size that we as human can feel as if we experience the real person, that we can reach out and touch.
The dignity & legacy of this american man need no alienated grandiose North Korea, China dictatorship style statue.


http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...=14&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

 

[NYEric]

I understand your concern; but also realize the article was written from an extreme Right political view!

 

[Shiva]

And the sculptor can't be faulted for making a big statue if that's what the client wants. He has to put bread, or rice, on the table for his family like everybody else. These days, everything can be contracted out all over the world.
As for Mao and his communist army, yes they killed a lot of people and so did the Japanese, the Germans, the British, the Russians and the Americans, to mention the most recent ones. ''A Revolution is not a tea party...'' () do I remember reading in his little Red Book so many years ago. But he set China free to go it's own way. Now, China has the respect of the World and is even financing the USA.
Let's see what the statue looks like before making judgement.

 

[Hien]

And the sculptor can't be faulted for making a big statue if that's what the client wants. He has to put bread, or rice, on the table for his family like everybody else. These days, everything can be contracted out all over the world.
As for Mao and his communist army, yes they killed a lot of people and so did the Japanese, the Germans, the British, the Russians and the Americans, to mention the most recent ones. ''A Revolution is not a tea party...'' () do I remember reading in his little Red Book so many years ago. But he set China free to go it's own way. Now, China has the respect of the World and is even financing the USA.
Let's see what the statue looks like before making judgement.

Eric, You are right , my sister points out to me the same thing about the World Tribune

Shiva, I saw the picture of the statue & I agree with Maya Angelou that they did a bad job by shorten what Dr. King said.
I saw the side of the stone where the quote was engraved, they are absolutely wrong to say they don't have room for the real saying.

 

[slippertalker]

I agree that there are some questions about the project, but the tagged article is so deliberately political that it has to be discounted.

 

[Shiva]

Shiva, I saw the picture of the statue & I agree with Maya Angelou that they did a bad job by shorten what Dr. King said.
I saw the side of the stone where the quote was engraved, they are absolutely wrong to say they don't have room for the real saying.

I agree, if you are to quote someone, you have to do it right.

 

[ehanes7612]

wasnt Mao's statue placed on a high pedestal?....although the style of the sculpture is similar , it doesnt feel like a 'monumental' communist sculpture with a dictating leader overseeing his people (and i have seen quite a few of these) . we have a Lenin here in Seattle and i have been to Hungary where they have preserved all their communist artifacts...not the same cold depiction of austerity i see in those statues..King's statue speaks of patience and fortitude in times of constant change (change represented by the 'unfinished' backing. it remains to be seen if the size has a negative effect but the white color and the offset adjacent pillars seem to be making a bold statement about Kings character..i think it has a lot of potential

 

[ehanes7612]

And the sculptor can't be faulted for making a big statue if that's what the client wants. He has to put bread, or rice, on the table for his family like everybody else. These days, everything can be contracted out all over the world.
As for Mao and his communist army, yes they killed a lot of people and so did the Japanese, the Germans, the British, the Russians and the Americans, to mention the most recent ones. ''A Revolution is not a tea party...'' () do I remember reading in his little Red Book so many years ago. But he set China free to go it's own way. Now, China has the respect of the World and is even financing the USA.
Let's see what the statue looks like before making judgement.

marginalizing a man's actions by comparing to the crimes of others doesnt make his crimes worthwhile...Mao practiced Genocide and by that very fact should never be honored..same goes for everyone else who advocates murder and destruction for the advancement of society

 

[Shiva]

marginalizing a man's actions by comparing to the crimes of others doesnt make his crimes worthwhile...Mao practiced Genocide and by that very fact should never be honored..same goes for everyone else who advocates murder and destruction for the advancement of society

I'm not marginalizing anything. War is part of the building process of civilisation and has always been. Much of what we have today, of what we are, is the result of two World Wars, the Corean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and so on. Countries have been born as a result and democracy has flourished where there was none before. If I were to agree with you, what would be left of History? It will take a very long time yet before we learn to live together in peace, and sanitizing History is not the way to go in my opinion.

 

[ehanes7612]

I'm not marginalizing anything. War is part of the building process of civilisation and has always been. Much of what we have today, of what we are, is the result of two World Wars, the Corean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and so on. Countries have been born as a result and democracy has flourished where there was none before. If I were to agree with you, what would be left of History? It will take a very long time yet before we learn to live together in peace, and sanitizing History is not the way to go in my opinion.

well, being a Historian of the Holocaust (yes, i am trained) and (Genocide in general) i am very well aware of the place of war in history...your statement (although i am sure was meant to be innocuous), begs the question of how we should move forward in our society and how we should interpret history for the benefit of society. Your interpretation of Mao's contributions would probably not hold much water for Tibet...and perhaps for many Chinese who suffered at his hands through collectivization ...lets view this another way....Hitler may have been the impetus for global change and raising awareness about how nations should act with each other ( as well as how its citizens should be treated), but who in their right mind is going to vindicate him for his crimes by crediting him for positive change by granting him a statue . Even Christopher Columbus should be held in contempt of his crimes. And you give China way too much credit, they are overburdened by extreme pollution and they have a perverted policy of gentrification of the poor that outweighs anything the west is currently devising, ...let's not mention their tight rein on the flow of information, so , "respect" ?...THERE IS A WAY TO ADVANCE SOCIETY AND STILL HOLD THOSE CRIMINALS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR CRIMES...Mao was a murderer and a Genocidist, history needs to hold him accountable for his crimes.....as much as history has held other Genocidists in contempt. King showed us there is another way...and he also understood that if a person stands on violence for change then his character has to be judged accordingly.

 

[Shiva]

First there is no question in my mind that Hitler was definitely a monster and so were Stalin, Mussolini and Franco. We could have very well done without these guys. They brought the worst in destruction and I am aghast at seeing old films showing civilians taking to the roads, fleeing the fighting with their meager possessions and still being fired upon by the Luftwaffe. I can always feel my heart sink for them.

But sad to say, none of this horror, not even the holocaust, can change what we are. I, personnally, would never want to hurt anyone or usher destruction on my fellow man. But we are talking of events that took place long ago and who knows what kind of person I would have been if alive then?

When you’re talking about Mao’s communist revolution you’re talking about events that began some 80 years ago in a very different world than today. It’s very easy to gauge the geopolitical situation of the time with an 80 year rear view mirror. But ask yourself, if you had been a 19 or 20 year old chinese at the time these events took place, and if you had been allowed to choose freely, which side would you have been on? You would have been a totally different person with totally different values, brought up in a very different society. For all we know, you might have been fighting at Mao’s side, totally convinced that his was the good cause. But we can only speculate, can we?


We are what we are: both angels and demons, but I like to think more angels than demons otherwise we would not have come so far. I was born in 1946 and what I've seen since, gives me hope for the future.


Thanks for your insights. And I think we strayed far enough from the MLK statue thread.

 

[ehanes7612]

First there is no question in my mind that Hitler was definitely a monster and so were Stalin, Mussolini and Franco. We could have very well done without these guys. They brought the worst in destruction and I am aghast at seeing old films showing civilians taking to the roads, fleeing the fighting with their meager possessions and still being fired upon by the Luftwaffe. I can always feel my heart sink for them.

But sad to say, none of this horror, not even the holocaust, can change what we are. I, personnally, would never want to hurt anyone or usher destruction on my fellow man. But we are talking of events that took place long ago and who knows what kind of person I would have been if alive then?

When you’re talking about Mao’s communist revolution you’re talking about events that began some 80 years ago in a very different world than today. It’s very easy to gauge the geopolitical situation of the time with an 80 year rear view mirror. But ask yourself, if you had been a 19 or 20 year old chinese at the time these events took place, and if you had been allowed to choose freely, which side would you have been on? You would have been a totally different person with totally different values, brought up in a very different society. For all we know, you might have been fighting at Mao’s side, totally convinced that his was the good cause. But we can only speculate, can we?


We are what we are: both angels and demons, but I like to think more angels than demons otherwise we would not have come so far. I was born in 1946 and what I've seen since, gives me hope for the future.


Thanks for your insights. And I think we strayed far enough from the MLK statue thread.

I thought the person in question was Mao, not his minions or the people of China....and your argument (the classic cultural relativist argument) doesnt hold up to any reasonable test, since the idea of peace and kindness originated long before Mao...and pretty much infused in Chinese culture long before the 20th century (Taoism and Buddhism...albeit in the context of Confucianism).People and civilzations can be judged by how they treat their citizens and can stand on that test alone. Who knows this better than MLK?