Monumental debate

Re “U.S. icon outsourced, critics say,” July 23

I can’t think of an act that better captures the spirit of the United States today than the decision by members of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. memorial foundation to commission not an African American, not even an American, but a Chinese artist to design and create this national treasure.

In reflecting on this “free market” decision to “outsource” this job, there is one question that enters my mind: Wasn’t this monument supposed to be a tribute to the great civil rights leader, and not the legacy of Milton Friedman’s intellectual ideas or the government policies of President Reagan?

Elliot Fein

Trabuco Canyon

I find artist Gilbert Young’s objections to the hiring of a Chinese sculptor known for his artistry to sculpt King racist. For King -- an internationally known civil rights leader who championed equality for all races -- to be used as a pawn in one racist’s view is ironic, callous and stupid. If King’s message served only black people, then maybe the group should put the monument in Harlem.

Wait until Young finds out that a Frenchman sculpted the Statue of Liberty.

Andrew Lee

Henderson, Nev.