Governor Promises MLK Statue for Capitol Grounds

By Justin Ove

A statue of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will soon grace the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol, Gov. Nathan deal reiterated during a speech on Friday.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deal said that the statue would be erected at the newly-opened Liberty Plaza, an area of the capitol campus which will soon be used for meetings, protests, and other assemblies.

King’s sister was on hand during Deal’s speech on Friday, and later told the AJC that if anyone had told her when she was growing up that her brother, Martin, would one day have his own statue outside the state capitol, she would have thought that person was crazy.

Christine King Farris was the only representative of the King family present, as Dr. King’s children are currently embroiled in a legal battle regarding items belonging to their late father, including his Bible and Nobel Peace Prize.

No date for the installation or unveiling of the statue has been released as of yet.

In 2013, Deal ordered the removal of the 12-foot statue of Tom Watson which stood outside the capitol building for decades, claiming the move was related to renovations to the capitol. Watson, a U.S. Senator from Georgia, once championed the rights of all disadvantaged Americans but later changed his views and became a white supremacist leader. The statue was moved off the capitol grounds and now stands across the street at Park Plaza.

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