1,369 lightbulbs

Lost in all the primary coverage, Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post penned a great column about the current dustup over the statue for Washington's MLK memorial.

The statue's clay model can be seen above, along with Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin, who was commissioned by the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts to create a 28-foot tall likeness of Dr. King. According to Robinson, the Commission can't even handle a stern-faced King, one that might imply that - gasp! - King might've been angry. Or even resolute.

I mean, does that image of Dr. King really look all that threatening?

The twisting of King's image into a savior for the ignorant white masses of America's haunted racialist past is well-documented, from Robinson's column above to Michael Eric Dyson and other biographers. What makes me ill is that in 2008, there are interests that still want to manipulate King into a hero that assuages their own guilt about their personal shortcomings. That is not what true leaders do, and that is not what King did for African-Americans and their White neighbors.

King, to me, was about leading us to the water. He did not tell us, "You may drink", as if he were delivering some majestic decree. He did not ask us to drink, as if he needed our permission to dispense justice. King said, "This is the water that will clench your thirst, but I cannot drink it for you. It is up to you to claim it for yourself." Real leaders empower those that they lead to lead for themselves, and Dr. King's example to me was strength beneath the preacher exterior, passion beneath the whitewashed image I was given on the one page of my private-school American history text that covered the Civil Rights Movement. Apparently, it's not enough for the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts to actually depict the man being memorialized.

A day after the birthday of Malcolm X, we're reminded that to this day, even Dr. King isn't allowed to be angry. Well, I ask the Commission: what the hell did they think the Civil Rights Movement was borne of? It never ceases to amaze me how frightened this country can be of an angry Black man. Even when he's made of clay.