Martin Luther King Memorial Inscription To Be Modified

The Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C., was unveiled on August 28, 2011. It has since proved hugely popular, with an estimated 1.5 to 2 million visitors in its first year. It has also proved controversial.

As Art Daily reports, several public figures complained about an inscription on the memorial that reads, "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness." The inscription is not in quotes because it's actually a paraphrase of what King said. His actual words were, "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."

Leading poet Maya Angelou told the Washington Post that the paraphrase makes King look like "an arrogant twit." She went on to say that the civil rights leader was anything but arrogant and the paraphrase "minimizes the man."

Now the full quote will be included. In September or October, after the summer tourist rush is over, two sculptors will change the quote.

The statue's other inscription hasn't caused any controversy. It reads, "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."


[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

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