via CNN
A controversial quote inscribed in the granite of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall will be corrected, an official at the Interior Department confirmed to CNN.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has given the National Park Service 30 days to consult with the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, members of the King family and others to decide on a more accurate version of the quote, the official said.
The quote holds a prominent place among more than a dozen King’s most notable lines at the site.
The quote in question is inscribed on one side of the stone. The abbreviated and paraphrased version of the line sparked controversy last summer when acclaimed poet and author Maya Angelou said it made the civil rights leader appear to be arrogant.
The line reads: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.”
In fact, King’s original words, from a 1968 sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, were: “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”
Angelou said that leaving out the “if” changes the meaning. In an interview in October, Martin Luther King III said the quote would be changed, but did not elaborate.
“It’s going to be corrected. First of all is what we understand. But I don’t know exactly how it got to that place. That was not — number one, that was not what dad said,” he told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield. “The issue is addressed, because it’s going to be corrected.”
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