Sculptor Fixes MLK Quote

It’ll cost $700,000, but a paraphrased quote at the base of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall has been removed. Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin says he has etched over the disputed quote and is working to deepen all the memorial’s grooves so they’ll match. The inscription read, “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” The full quote was, "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 poet Maya Angelou said the paraphrase made King sound like an “arrogant twit.”