Made in China

Nowadays, if you pick up anything cheap and plastic, from children's toys to home goods, you'll usually find the brand "made in China" on the underside. Most American consumers have generally accepted the fact that a large quantity of the items they buy are produced in China. Those who have problems with this (you know the Made-in-the-USA types) can pay the higher prices to buy things made in this country. Therefore, it seems surprising that such a tremendous surge of voices has come forward to condemn the new Martin Luther King Jr. sculpture, which, like your child's Barbie doll or flimsy flip-flops, was made in China.

The statue, part of the Washington D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall, has raised eyebrows because its Chinese artist, Lei Yixin, sculpted the work in China of Chinese granite. Of course if it had been a statue honoring I.M. Pei or any other Chinese-American, the public would have had no problem. But considering the function and purpose of the MLK Memorial, many Americans were outraged that a memorial for one of the greatest advocates of equality and peace was created by someone still living in a Communist state. Some more extreme critics went so far as to claim that the representation of Dr. King has Asian features and a Mao-like crossed-arm pose.

The children of Dr. King were reportedly pleased with the monument, praising Lei's depiction of their father. Many other visitors were equally impressed with the 30-foot sculpture, and millions more are projected to visit it this year. They don't seem to have a problem with the fact that it was made by a Chinese artist. Interestingly enough, none of the critics seemed to remember that America's most emblematic monument, the Statue of Liberty, was made in France by a Frenchman.

However, I am still trying to wrap my head around the whole argument: is there actually an ethical issue here? Or is it just another occasion where self-invested Americans are biting the hand that feeds?