Anger over King tribute 'mix-up'

A plaque honouring actor James Earl Jones at a Florida event marking Martin Luther King Day has instead paid tribute to James Earl Ray - the man who killed the civil rights leader.

This was a mistake, a very unfortunate mistake

Merit Industries Over a background featuring stamps of famous black Americans, including King, the erroneous plaque read: "Thank you James Earl Ray for keeping the dream alive." Ray shot King in a Memphis hotel in 1968. The plaque is being corrected in time for the actor's visit to a ceremony in Lauderhill, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, this Saturday.

Gerald Wilcox, owner of the company which ordered the plaque, said: "We were very upset. We wanted to find out how a mistake of this magnitude could occur and to try to determine if it was deliberate or not." Mr Wilcox said his company, Adpro, made it clear to the plaque's manufacturer, Texas-based Merit Industries, that the message was for James Earl Jones. The Tony Award-winning actor provided the voices of Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in The Lion King.

Merit Industries said the mix-up was caused by a typographical error. "I apologise to whoever I need to apologise to. This was a mistake, a very unfortunate mistake," said Herbert Miller of Merit Industries. Merit had offered to correct the plaque, but Adpro turned down the offer, accusing the company of being "culturally insensitive". The correction is being made by a local firm. King is honoured across the United States on 21 January, Martin Luther King Day.