Elizabeth Atkinson

My jaw dropped when I first learned of the paraphrasing on Martin Luther King Jr.’s $120 million memorial. While there has been much artistic criticism of the statue itself – the choice of sculptor, the choice of stone, the creative merit, the small size – nothing can be more upsetting (and embarrassing) than the misquote meant to capture the essence of one of the world’s most celebrated heroes and orators.

The original words spoken by MLK in 1968: “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.”

The words inscribed on the north side of Dr. King’s memorial: “I was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness.”

Clearly the people who chose to edit the quote – and change the intention/meaning/message/etc – were not wordsmiths. As Maya Angelou so aptly points out, “‘The quote makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an arrogant twit…. It makes him seem less than the humanitarian he was. It makes him seem an egotist.’”

Fortunately, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar recently made the decision to correct this flagrant mistake, despite the very unfortunate costs it will likely incur. Maybe next time the powers that be will check in with a poet before paraphrasing anyone in granite.