The new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C. is not without controversy.
The sculpture, located between the Jefferson and Lincoln memories, stands 30 feet tall -- 11 feet taller than its Presidential neighbors and was created by Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin, a choice that has drawn out critics from the sculpting community who question the choice to go outside the U.S. for the work.
Ed Dwight, a sculptor who’d been on the project earlier, claims that the late King would be insulted to hear that a sculptor from a Communist country would be working on his likeness.
“Dr. King would be turning over in his grave if he knew,” Dwight told USA Today. “He would rise up from his grave and walk into their offices and go, ‘How dare you?’”
MLK's family is supportive of the work, and despite critic's thoughts that the likeness looks too Asian, King's namesake son told USA Today he's seen "probably 50 sculptures of my dad, and [I] would say 47 of them are not good reflections” but that “this particular artist — he’s done a good job.”
The dedication of the memorial, with an expected crowd of 400 thousand people, falls on the 48th anniversary of King's "I Have A Dream" speech, August 28th.