I personally think the commission should go to an African-American. If you are remotely familiar with history of African American art in the United States this is a terrible affront. That this commission would go to a sculptor whose other commissions include scuplture pieces of a man who was responsible for the deaths of about 30 million Chinese in the late 1950's defies credulity.

Remember African-Americans are the only ethnic group in the United States that were brought here in chains....with hundreds of thousands being killed in the "mid-Atlantic passage".

It seems like everything is being outsourced to China/India/Philippines [the next time you call about your credit card..ask the person their location] and NOW even the principal sculpture piece of one of the most heroic modern Americans is being "outsourced"!

I may sound excessively nationalistic on this point, but unless you around and participated in civil rights activities you really can't understand the rationale for people's feelings on this subject.

Let's face reality...the reason the multinationals export jobs to China and India is a CHEAP and DOCILE, NON-UNION labor pool.

But there is no excuse in the case of MLK's sculpture piece.

I was struck by the map showing the population distribution of China. It reminded me of a passage in Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux. The book is an account of a year of travel through China, and, although somewhat dated, paints a marvelous picture of the landscape and people. One point Theroux makes is precisely along the lines of the map, that is, how he was impressed by the masses of people when he reached the eastern part of China.