I don't believe it is true that an artist from one ethnic background can't understand or represent another. That strikes me as particularly true when it comes to visual art. Eric Blome, the sculptor whose statue is being assailed, says he had an image of a statue of King in his mind based on a photograph he owned for years.

Blome admits the sculpture is challenging. The Illinois sculptor has fashioned several historical black figures, including Rosa Parks (arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger), and Thurgood Marshall, the first black supreme court judge in the US.

He also previously completed a statue of King in Milwaukee, for which he won an award. "Most statues of King have him marching or holding his hand up and orating. I wanted to make something that shows his quiet strength and intellectual side. So he's not standing in a way most people remember. But he didn't spend most of his time marching and speaking. It's a sculpture - not a death mask."

Another aspect of the controversy is explicitly political. Some black citizens of Rocky Mount believe the white mayor intended the statue as a bribe for their support for his reelection. His opponent will be African-American.

Quite a crazy quilt, isn't it?

I believe the statue should remain the way it is. If someone else, including a later municipal administration, chooses to erect another statue of King, later, fine. Works of the same subject by different artists can actually complement each other.

I would be remiss if I didn't say ths controversy is progress of a kind. In some Southern cities, Richmond comes to mind, some white folks would be protesting the very existence of the statue. They would loudly lament spending city money to honor 'Martin Luther Coon, a communist.' We have come a long way — sort of.

Note 1: Is there something wrong with having ethnic features? The issue is examined at Mac-a-ro-nies.

Note 2: This entry also appeared at Silver Rights.