Organizer Criticizes Plans To Change Inscription On MLK Jr. Monument

Harry Johnson, president and CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, is criticizing plans to strip off a disputed inscription from the monument. He says that new plan will "threaten the design, structure and integrity" of the monument.

Critics had complained the abbreviated quote engraved on the memorial didn't accurately reflect King's words. This week, engineers with the National Park Service said they would remove portions of the granite containing the inscription and replace it with another piece etched with the full quotation from the civil rights leader.

Ed Jackson Jr., executive architect of the memorial says there is no way to match the existing stone or color and doing so would essentially deface the monument.

In a statement, Johnson, adds he's disappointed the King family and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made a "unilateral decision" to alter the memorial. So far, no word on how much it will cost to change the inscription.