In time for Black History Month, the King children want to sell his Nobel Peace Prize medal and his personal Bible, sworn over by Pres. Obama during the 2013 inauguration. Daughter Bernice King alerted the public to her brothers’ lawsuit in an open letter yesterday. She names a "private buyer" as the interested party. The complaint, according to the Boston Globe, does not mention an intention to sell the items.
This latest incident is one in a string of sibling lawsuits over the keepsakes of Dr. King’s legacy, which also entangle Harry Belafonte. It highlights, for some, the vast difference in values between the best and worst of the Moses and Joshua generations, respectively. (Another high profile family spat moved to closure this week with the reading of Nelson Mandela’s will.)
One view says, butt out. These squabbles are private family matters and therefore best left to family to sort out. Another says Dr. King’s items should be viewed in the same light as the Buddhist temples of Bamiyan or treasures looted from Baghdad’s Iraq Museum: as belonging to human civilization and treated as such.
What’s your take?