The New York Memorial Statue

[Todd-'o'-Vision]

They are doing a statue based on the three fire fighters who raised the american flag.

The three fire fighters were white.

Whoop, whoop, whoop political Corectness alert sirens go off.

no we can't have that ot a statute of the three white men who raised the flags, nope, no way, ho how.

its got to be a white, black and a hispanic statue

so what do you think

pro reality or pro political correctness?

 

[Azwed]

Gonna have to go with pro stupidity.

They all happend to be white. So what big deal. You can't go changing history around to be politicaly correct.

Now if they want to say that the statue is a representation of all the people who gave their lives that day then that might be ok except for one problem. They only have a white guy a black guy and a hispanic guy. I think they are missing a lot of races/ethnic backgrounds.

Better to just leave it historicaly accurate.


Isn't the statue all on bronze?
I mean unless you get really close they are all going to look the same. Granted different races have different facial structues but from a distance they will look the same.

 

[WriterDom]

I wouldn't be opposed to a statue that included all races and women. But to take a photograph and convert to political correctness is a bit silly.

 

[Azwed]

Yeah a little bit beyond silly I would say.

What is scarry is me and WD agreeing on something.

 

[Cheyenne]

Being PC again... I'd vote for historical

NEW YORK - A decision to depict firefighters of different races in a
memorial statue - based on the famous photograph of three white firefighters raising an American flag at ground zero - has drawn criticism from some who call it an attempt to rewrite history.

The 19-foot-high bronze sculpture recalls the scene photographed on Sept. 11 by Tom Franklin, of The Record of Bergen County, N.J., when New York City firefighters Dan McWilliams, George Johnson and Billy Eisengrein anchored a
flagpole in about 20 feet of rubble at the World Trade Center.

FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon said a statue representing firefighters who are white, black and Hispanic more accurately represents the 343 department members killed in the attacks.

"Given that those who died were of all races and all ethnicities and that the statue was to be symbolic of those sacrifices, ultimately a decision was made to honor no one in particular, but everyone who made the supreme sacrifice," Gribbon said.

But many firefighters and their relatives were upset by the decision.

Tony Marden, of Ladder 165 in Queens, called it "an insult to those three guys to put imaginary faces on that statue. It's not a racial thing. That shouldn't even be an issue." He said witnessing the flag-raising made him realize that Sept. 11 "was a national tragedy."

Of the city's 11,495 firefighters, 2.7 percent are black and 3.2 percent Hispanic, Gribbon said. Twelve of the firefighters who died were black; the number of Hispanic victims was not immediately available.

A clay model of the statue, created by StudioEis in Brooklyn, was unveiled on Dec. 21. Studio director Ivan Schwartz said the decision to portray different races was made by the fire department, the property owners, the studio and the foundry.

Both Schwartz and Gribbon said the statue, while based on Franklin's photograph, was not meant to be an exact replica.

The photo, seen around the world, captures a scene strikingly similar to the 1945 Associated Press photograph of six American fighting men struggling to raise the flag at Iwo Jima during World War II.

"The symbolism is far more important than representing the actual people," said Kevin James, a member of the Vulcan Society, which represents black firefighters.

"I think the artistic expression of diversity would supersede any concern over factual correctness," he added, citing the city's struggle for healing and reconciliation since the attacks.

But others felt the event should be represented as it happened.

"They're rewriting history in order to achieve political correctness," said Carlo Casoria, who lost his firefighter son, Thomas.

Gribbon said the department had not received any official complaints about the statue, but John Gilleeny, a retired New York City firefighter who edits an e-mail newsletter about the fire department, said he has received hundreds of e-mails protesting the decision.

The statue is expected to be placed at FDNY headquarters in Brooklyn this spring. The $180,000 piece is being paid for by Forest City Ratner Companies, which owns the property.

"Questions about race or ethnicity played no part in the brave deeds firefighters performed on Sept. 11, and it does a disservice to the memory of the thousands lost on that day to raise such issues," said Bruce Ratner, president and CEO of the property management and development company.

The three firefighters in the photo declined to comment, but their attorney, Bill Kelly, said the men are "disappointed because it's become something that is political as opposed to historical."

Kelly said he had written to Forest City Ratner and the FDNY asking them to stop production of the statue. Franklin did not return a call for comment.

"We were quite shocked that the image was altered," said Jennifer Borg, attorney for North Jersey Media Group, which publishes The Record and holds the copyright for the picture. The FDNY sought rights to reproduce the photo, she said, but the company did not sign any agreement.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,42799,00.html

 

[EthiopianPrince]

The decision was made by the new york fire department, not imposed from outside. They clearly said the statue was not meant to be an exact replica of the photograph. The whining about this issue is ridiculous, there will be plenty of 9/11 memorials ... maybe some will even be as white as the cast of "The Lord of the Rings" and equally pleasing to your sensibilities.

 

[The_Masseur]

The memorial statue is not a tribute to an act of heroism ...

It's a memorial to an act that is inspirational. (I hated having to agree with Ron Kube of wabc radio, but there it is.)

Those men were photographed raising the first US flag on the site of the WTC. It has been widely published, and appears routinely wherever a symbol of America's newly-remembered patriotism is needed. It is perfect as an example for this.

As a memorial to the firefighters who lost their lives rushing into those doomed towers (and lets not forget that dozens of policemen ran in to save lives, as well), it is not so perfect, because it is a statue that is not representative.

So do we change the statue to include a Black and Hispanic firefighter? No, we should not.

First, the issue (to me, anyway) is not that we are including others, it's that we are talking about punishing the men in the picture for doing something wonderful. During WWII, statistically there was probably at least one male transvestite in the US Marine Corps, and he was probably patriotic. Do we, then, tear down the statue in Arlington, VA, of the Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi, and replace them with six men wearing womens' clothing?

Of course not. To do so would be an insult to the men who posed for that photo (the flag had been raised the day before, if I recall correctly). So why are we even considering attacking three of our newly embraced heroes?

Also, what of the actual message that would be sent to Blacks and Hispanics? No, it would not be inclusiveness, or whatever the PC word is. It is "You make so little contributions to history that we have to lie and change it to add you." Not only is that a bald-faced lie, but it's extremely insulting to all of the men and women who HAVE and DO contribute to society and history every day.

We should not be creating fantasies. We should be spotlighting realities.

No to the statue. Create something different that does the job right.