Outsourcing the MLK Memorial to China

Date: Friday, May 04, 2007 11:38 AM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1687 -- 5/04/2007 >>>>>

The "Made in China" label is about to get attached to another import to the
USA -- this time it's to a granite sculpture that will memorialize Dr.
Martin Luther King.

Something is getting lost in all the controversy, and even Lou Dobbs didn't
mention it (his transcript follows the first article). I don't want to come
across sounding like I'm disregarding the important racial and cultural
issues involved here, but at its core this story is fundamentally is about
offshore outsourcing.

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http://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/articlelive/articles/37605/1/BlackonomicsThe-Chinese-connection/Page1.html

New Pittsburgh Courier Online -
http://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/articlelive
Blackonomics...The Chinese connection
http://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/articlelive/articles/37605/1/BlackonomicsThe-Chinese-connection/Page1.html
James Clingman

By James Clingman

Published on 04/26/2007

(NNPA) -- Let me get this straight. We have a Chinese furniture company
labeling one of its sofas "[N-Word] Brown. We have a Chinese Sculptor
being awarded the rights to carve the proposed $100 million Martin Luther
King Memorial. And while Master Lei Yixin is carving the MLK stone, his
Chinese brethren will continue carving out a large piece of Africa by
developing the land, purchasing the oil, and selling Africans everything
they want and need.

Blackonomics...The Chinese connection
(NNPA) -- Let me get this straight. We have a Chinese furniture company
labeling one of its sofas "[N-Word] Brown. We have a Chinese Sculptor
being awarded the rights to carve the proposed $100 million Martin Luther
King Memorial. And while Master Lei Yixin is carving the MLK stone, his
Chinese brethren will continue carving out a large piece of Africa by
developing the land, purchasing the oil, and selling Africans everything
they want and need. Whats wrong with this picture? To most Black folks
in America, it seems the answer is obvious: Nothing.

The sofa issue could be mitigated by the possibility that in the Chinese
city of Guangzhou, from where the sofa was shipped, the N-Word could be
just an effort on their part to emulate a colloquial U.S. expression. The
Chinese are capitalists; they want the money. I cant believe they would
intentionally do something to alienate what might be the largest consumer
group in the world in terms of disposable income. I dont know; they may
have thought the N-Word was a term of endearment; some Black folks do.

Nonetheless, the
"N-Word Brown sofa fiasco will have a brief shelf life and will soon
fade into the annals of "shock news stories. Purchases from China
will go on and we will be back to business as usual in a month or so.
Whatever the case, I can give the Chinese furniture label a free ghetto
pass this time. Now if the color of the MLK memorial is done in lush tones
of N-Word Brown, I will definitely have a problem.

Nice segue. Lets talk about this MLK memorial. I dont know if you saw
the article written by one of the countrys most renowned artists,
Gilbert Young. The article, titled, "A Chinese Martin Luther King"
(www.kingisours.com) expresses Youngs outrage at the lack of a Black
designer (The Roma Group, http://www.roma.com, was selected for that) and a
Black sculptor to complete the project (Lei Yixin was elected for that $10
million honor).

As a result, Gilbert Young says, "So lets see, that leaves the digging
and hauling, which in some folks eyes may be appropriate because this
nation was built on the backs of Blacks. I, for one, am not willing to bob
my head and grin over the fact that some Black subcontractor will be
employed to move the dirt. Nor am I willing to allow my childrens
children to visit a memorial that will not reflect African-American art and
culture and artistry.

Black people are always busy trying to be "inclusive with our
projects while, at the same time, we are being "excluded" from projects
controlled by others. I dont know whats up with those in charge of
the MLK Memorial, but I gotta go with Gilbert Young on this one. He
questioned the travesty of justice in having the national treasure of
China, Lei Yixin, thats Communist China, sculpt the center piece
of the most important African-American monument, in recognition of the most
important African-American movement in the history of the United States. A
movement that never could have taken place in China. Maybe they should put
the memorial in China, especially since some of the quotes to be inscribed
on it speak directly to the oppression in that country.

I must be missing something here, because it just does not make sense. Uh
oh, I thought of something Booker T. said: "Beneath everything lies
economics. Could this be about the money? Of course, it could.

Another nice segue. China boasts the worlds second-largest cache of
foreign exchange behind only Japan; it is on pace to see its reserves soon
climb past $1 trillion. China virtually controls the U.S. and has made
significant economic headway in Africa especially during the past 25 years.
Consider the trade deficit with China, the rise of the Euro and the fall of
the Dollar, the manipulation of the Yuan by the Chinese, the escalating oil
consumption by China, and the sheer power ensconced in Chinas 1.3
billion consumers. They tell me even the stone for the MLK Memorial will be
imported from China!

Since China loves Black folks, according to Yang Zhou, a hotel manager in
Sierra Leone, who said, "Africa is a good environment for Chinese
investment, because its not too competitive," and when you consider the
economic impact of doing deals with China, especially among the
heavy-hitters who have already donated millions to the MLK Memorial, the
dots get connected.

But lets get back to Black folks. If we want to make a Chinese
Connection, then lets do it, but lets do it with some leverage. To
simply channel profits to them at the expense of Black artists, designers,
all in the name of inclusion and the flimsy rationale of Dr. King being
"international in his reach and in his message, will not give us the
leverage we need to build our own Chinese connection, one that will benefit
our children prior to benefiting everyone elses.

When I saw Andrew Young and Jesse Jackson crying alligator tears at the
groundbreaking of the MLK Memorial I thought it was in remembrance of MLK
and what he did for us. Maybe I was wrong; could their tears have been in
response to the most of the funds being collected for the memorial going to
China rather than to Black folks?

As usual, Black folks get to participate in the emotional side of things,

putting shovels in the ground, making speeches, and crying, while other
folks stay in the background waiting for the money to start rolling out. We
get excited about the sizzle, and they dine sumptuously on the steak.
Please, stop the madness and Bring Back Black! (www.bringbackblack.org)

(James E. Clingman, an adjunct professor in the University of Cincinnati's
African American studies department, is former editor of the Cincinnati
Herald and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of
Commerce. He hosts the radio program ''Blackonomics'' and has written
several books. To reach Clingman, go to his Web site,
www.blackonomics.com, or call 513-489-4132.)

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http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/03/ldt.01.html

Aired May 3, 2007 - 18:00 ET

Perhaps no American had a more profound impact on America and the latter
half of the past century than Dr. Martin Luther King. Tonight, there is
some considerable outrage over a monument being built to honor his memory.
It is the first monument specifically honoring an African-American. But the
statue is not being created by an American. It's not even being carved from
American stone. Bill Tucker has more on the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Martin Luther King was a man
who rose from the red clay of Georgia to profoundly shape his country. His
legacy is now being honored on the Washington National Mall with a
monument. The memorial, known as the Stone of Hope, will be the first
honoring an African-American and it will be carved by a Chinese sculptor
using Chinese stone in communist China.

GILBERT YOUNG, WWW.KINGISOURS.COM: We have a moral right and obligation to
create this memorial from a black perspective, so the world can see our
artistry and what Dr. King really fought for.

TUCKER: So far, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project
Foundation has raised $78 million of the needed $100 million to complete
the project. $10 million of those are taxpayer funds.

The foundation's board, which is 90 percent African-American, declined our
request for an interview, but did give us this statement. Quote: "Those who
built America's Mall drew on the talents of the world. Dr. King would be
pleased that the memorial project is holding truth to his words -- that we
are judging people not by the color of their skin but the content of their
character."

Yes, but...

BARBARA ANDREWS, NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM: While pleased about the
larger world situation in which a Chinese artist could in fact sculpt
Martin Luther King, I think he would be disappointed to know that an
African-American artist and/or an American was not chosen.

REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: It's time I see another event
honoring Dr. King by those who did not know him or walk with him. They get
further and further away from the authentic or from the original. We must
fight for the authenticity of the Martin Luther King that lived, that we
knew.

TUCKER: Construction is scheduled to begin late this year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCKER: And of course, the irony is cruel and inescapable -- the contract
for the stone and the statue of the man who birthed and led the civil
rights movement here in America, Lou, goes, of course, to one of the
world's most oppressive regimes.

DOBBS: The cost of granite in the United States versus the cost of granite
in China?

TUCKER: Not an issue. In fact, I spoke with a stone supplier today, a
carver up in New England, who said they would have done any stone -- mason
in the country would have done it at mere cost, because they wanted to have
that contract.

DOBBS: And what did Jesse Jackson mean, the authenticity of Martin Luther
King? Does he believe it should have been an African- American artist?

TUCKER: Yes. Yes, he believes it should have been an African- American
artist here in America, who has a connection to the legacy of Dr. King.

DOBBS: Thank you very much. Bill Tucker, appreciate it.

The last monument to be built on the Mall was the World War II memorial.
That memorial, which opened to the public in 2094, built using 100,000
cubic feet of granite. The primary contract supplier for the memorial: New
England Stone. It placed a bid, by the way, we're told, to build the Martin
Luther King memorial, but never received a response from the Martin Luther
King memorial people.

The company says, quote -- "Given that there are over 50 active granite
quarries domestically offering a full palette of colors, it boggles one's
mind to think the selection committee couldn't find an American stone to
represent one of the greatest Americans of the 20th century."

We found there is, in fact, plenty of granite produced in this country. In
2005, the United States produced 416 metric tons of the stone, valued at
more than $100 million. And by the way, this building we're broadcasting
from tonight, the Time Warner Center, home to our studios here, built with
granite from New England Stone. Not exactly a small project either.

Americans -- well, they've got plenty to say about plans to honor one of
America's greatest civil rights icons with a memorial made in communist
China. The groundbreaking for the monument is set for December 2008. We'll
continue to bring you all of the latest developments.

Let's listen to what some of those folks had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It should be done by an American artist with American
stone in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martin Luther King is American, so it should be here,
not in China.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What he did helped the entire world, so it doesn't
matter where it comes from.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Martin Luther King was here. He wasn't in China. It
should be built here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm all in favor of the statue of Martin Luther King,
but I think it ought to be made by an American artist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Martin Luther King did things here in America, but
it's affected everyone worldwide. So if it's done in China, I don't think
that's a problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It should be done by an American artist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Importing something all the way from China for what it
is an American monument just doesn't make any sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOBBS: You know, I've just got an idea for everybody to consider here. Why
not have the Chinese government build their own monument to Martin Luther
King in Beijing, in advance of the Olympics? It would be a great statement.
It would honor the internationalism that the Martin Luther King people
talked about, their committee. And let's find an African-American, an
American artist, and use a little of that stone here. Everybody would be
happy. We'll see.

That brings us to the subject of our poll. Do you believe the memorial to
the icon of this country's civil rights movement should be crafted by an
American artist and created of American stone? We would love to hear what
you think about this. Send your votes to us at loudobbs.com. Yes or no?
We'll have the results upcoming.

Next, the outspoken senator from Virginia. Senator Jim Webb will join us
with his views on the president's veto of the war funding bill and the
prospects of compromise. And I'll be joined as well by author Christopher
Hitchens. His new book, "God is not Great." We'll be right back. Stay with
us.

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