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Politically Correct.
Correct to whom?
And why is it that these words have went above and beyond politics?
Afer 9/11, I was mistakenly under the impression that a great extent of our political correctiveness had finally taken the back burner to a new unified and patriotic method of life.
Boy, was I wrong!
Four months later, alas, we're at it again. This time we're reinventing a historic moment in a perfunctory bow to the gods of diversity. Specifically, we're reinventing the photographic instant when three New York City firefighters raised an American flag atop a pile of rubble at Ground Zero.
The firefighters in the photo are caucasian--not black, not hispanic.
A statue is being instituted at the fire department's Brooklyn Headquarters depicting the raising of the American flag by the three firefighters...with a couple of changes.
The three firemen are still men (an oversight, I'm sure), but they're no longer white. Now they're of various ethnicities - white, black and Hispanic - to better reflect the ethnic content of the department.
Who makes these decisions?
Many New York City firefighters and their families are upset by the falsification of real events. It's not about race, they say; it's about reality.
Some say the symbolism is what matters, not the actual people.
Symbolism has it's place. Sometimes it is the overwhelming majority in substance, but not in lying.
Does it make the patriotic symbolism of the moment of the raising of the flag more prolific if the three weren't all white?
Ridiculous.
Those men shouldn't be depicted as black, white and hispanic.
They should be portrayed as 3 Americans.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Three men who in the thick of death, destruction, and turmoil, they raised their flag and supported their country, no matter what had been done to it.
Want to get technical?
The truth includes the fact that of the city's 11,500 firefighters, 2.7 percent are black and 3.2 percent are Hispanic.
That would technically mean that only one of the firefighter's feet should have been black..only one nose should have been hispanic.
Once you start slicing and dicing truth, there's no end to it. And once you become comfortable with little adjustments to truth, a tweak here and a tweak there, you begin not to notice when truth disappears altogether. Where truth is absent, tyranny reigns. Such, ultimately, is the loathsome promise of political correctness.
But it's only a statue, you say. If it makes people feel better, what's the harm? It's not the symbol. It's what the symbol stands for, which isn't truth. If not truth, then what if not a lie?
The firefighters captured by the camera have written a letter asking that the statue be halted--that they are "disappointed" in the changes. Disappointed? I would be furious!!!
These men weren't accurately portrayed---their race was changed for God's sake! It's the equivalent of Roseanne Barr playing Marilyn Monroe in a movie. Ugh!
In fairness, this may be a case of good intentions gone awry. The fact is, we are a diverse nation, and people of many races died that day. But honoring those people shouldn't require appropriating the glory of others.
To say that I am thoroughly disgusted by the news of this statue is an understatement.
We are supposed to be a unification, an entity of all for one and one for all.
What we are not are the three white guys who raised the flag on a 20-foot pile of rubble that day. And that's the truth, like it or not.
*Tara - I don't disagree with you, but you made me curious about something. You mentioned the percentages of black and hispanic firefighters, but not the percentage of women. Just curious if you know what it is.......
*I have quasi-mixed feelings about this. Not really mixed, just my opinion depends on the facts, and I'm slightly confused. Is the NYFD statue supposed to depict that specific flag raising, or just capture the upswelling of patriotism and national resolve following the events of 9/11? If it is the actual, specific event captured by the Bergen County Record photo, the statue should depict the same three firefighters. Much the same as the Iwo Jima statue reflects the actual photo of Iwo Jima.If it is a more generic statue, I have no problem with the diversification. But I believe the pose of the statue should not mimic the 9/11 event too closely, so as people do not confuse the two.
*Pita96% of the people that I have heard made comments similar to yours. A few people has suggested using the flag statue as the center and then around it you can put other people envolved in the resque action. I like that.What really get me is that one of the person behind changing the statue has said (from memory, don't have time to look the exact wording) "it is more imporant to be diverse then to historically accurate".Rewriting history so that it looks correct ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*I'll find out for you Boss.
*From about one year ago:"There are now 11,334 firefighters and fire officers in the department, of whom 321 are black, 341 are Hispanic, 20 are Asian and 9 are Native American, said Deputy Commissioner Francis X. Gribbon, a department spokesman. There are 36 female firefighters and fire officers, he said." Why not just use Dennis Rodman as the model for the statue. He seems to embody all ethnicities and genders, all wrapped up into one package.
*i A statue is being instituted at the fire department's Brooklyn HeadquartersOn whose authority and by whom? And what do you mean by "instituted"?
*Mongo,LOL. He can play basketball, but can he put out a fire, or does he just set them?Mary
*And you're surprised ? Just look at a "corrected" version of Tom Sawyer compared to an edition from the 50's; compare any of the new editions of the Hardy Boys to the older ones too - some are almost unrecognizeable. And, well there's no other way to put this, many Americans have perceptions of historical events that they've picked up from TV or the movies that are just flat-out wrong.
*Thanks, Mongo.FWIW - I thought the line in the movie "Men in Black" was funny when one guy said Dennis Rodman was an alien, and the other said: "It's not a very good disguise". (Or something along that line)Some role model he is, huh ?
*They've "corrected" Tom Sawyer? I never did get the hoopla over that one. Mark Twain was a brilliant satirist. Did they not get that the only decent and intelligent human being in the book was the black runaway slave and Twain never once indicated he was not justified in running away and seeking freedom? Guess it went over their heads. Twain skewered just about every hypocrisy in 19th century life and everybody except the good hearted and just. He was truly one of the greatest American writers and anything but racist even if he did use a few offensive words accurately.Mary
*We just watched Burn's "Mark Twain" the other night on TV; about 15 minutes after it ended, our neighbour was at the door asking if we had an older version of Tom Sawyer they could borrow; they had watched the special too, decided to read the book to their two small ones using the edition that their eldest had for high-school; they were furious, literally furious, when they looked at their daughter's text book and saw how it had been re-edited for "today's audience".
*Well, I'll be a party pooper. I think "realist" statues of this type are really not very good to begin with. This type of memorial was put at the Vietnam Memorial to appease those who wanted tradition. After all that, people still prefer to visit the wall. A good memorial often has to be good art or design so it doesn't end up being just sentimental sculpture that no one visits or cares about in 10 years.
*The Wall has much more power than any statue because it isn't heroic per se, but it is so very personal. Every time I visit, tears come unbidden. All those names...Mary
*Let's hear it for an abstract artistic display, as long as it's made with black marble, red marble, green marble, white marble....
*As long as we're voting...I vote no people. No flags.Just a section of the exoskeleton of the building...say 3 or 4 stories high. A little structural steel added to beef it up. Remember the large piece of the building's facade that stood for a couple of weeks after the collapse, precariously leaning to the side? That's what I'm trying to describe.Keep it simple, keep it stark.
*compared to an edition from the 50'sYou will see minor pc edits in virtually all new editions of pre 60's lit. We do it here too and it's not going to stop.Syndicated works, with no authors to opposite changes, such as Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, took big hits in allegorical content, word simplicity, and pc. Original editions are very different and prized. You might enjoy the current release of Fahrenheit 451. It contains the original text and new content-a flaming rant by Bradbury on pc editors. He cites the discovery of 75 edits in 451 that he was able to get Delray to purge.The truth is that most of the adventure/fantasy manuscripts from this era were written very quickly, contained a lot of junk, and gratuitously offensive language. Authors don't like it, and the historical record is changed, but editing generally makes the writing better and available to many more readers.
*Referring to Mr. Pita's comment on the statue that was a copy of probably the most famous historical photographs of all time,the flag raising at Iwo Jima--I recently read 'Flags of Our Fathers' written by the son of one of the men in the photo,and he stated that the photo that became so famous and inspiring for our nation was actually a re-inactment of the actual flag raising,using different servicemen.So this sort of thing has happened before.I wish I could find my copy of this book to give more details...Anyway the image that captures the publics' imagination is not always true to life.jw
*Yes and no, but not quite. The photo does depict the actual flag raising, but it was not the first flag on Mt. Suribachi. There was a flag planted shortly before the photo, but it was considered too small as it couldn't be seen from the base of the mountain. The reason there were different servicemen was that they were specifically detailed to go raise the 2nd larger flag, where the first was impromptu.http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq87-3l.htmhttp://www.iwojima.com/index.cfm
*I can find no fault with your facts,you are obviously more familiar with this subject than I.My first exposure to this subject was the book that I referenced,which I enjoyed.I attempted to locate my copy to refresh my memory,but was unable to.Thank you for clarifying what I was trying to share.jw
*Forget that flag stuff. Lets just hang Osama by his balls and mummify him in that position.Or, maybe we could get him a sex change, then send him to the taxidermist. We could then use him as a dart board.blue
*Take a piece of the exoskelaton, with a bronze statue of Uncle Sam on top skull f--king Osama Bin Laden. Top it off with a video loop of the towers being crashed into and the collapse. I for one think that they should show that crash video everyday, because most Americans have very short memories and shorter attention spans. This one we need to have ingrained in the memory chip we all carry.
*I think the best design is one that is won in a design competition, like the Vietnam memorial. That way more ideas are put forth and can be judged, usually by a panel of reasonably talented people. Surprisingly the public often chooses the more expensive or difficult choices when they have a chance to compare. The government, the GSA, now chooses building designs by competition and portfolio, not just specs and price. All the 1950's ugly federal buildings are getting knocked down and replaced because they were done on the cheap.
*If you want to look at a daily rewrite of history just go to the Congressional Record. Each and every Congressperson can edit the verbatim record of the days doings to suit their personal whim or wipe out a slip of the tongue."I hereby swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth". Only my eraser knows for sure.
*I couldn't believe it at first, Ralph. And there's those pompous speechs on C-Span .....then the camera turns and there's no one in the room.
*I think the memorial should accurately represent those who erected the flag that day. I have room for many other memorials. One I particularly liked was skyward lights, that mimicked where the towers used to be.To change the race/gender/whatever of those folks who planted the flag is wrong. All would be better served if an additional memorial was there, perhaps depicting a person of each nationality killed in the attacks, holding both an American flag and a flag of their country. JMO
*I feel the first mistake is WHY is the NYFD in such a rush to create a monument. My God we still haven't cleared the hallowed ground that so many people perished in. To alter for PC sensitivities is the second error.It took a while for our country to try to reflect on the valor from those who died during the Vietnam era-my generation. The Wall is truely one of two monuments that brings my emotions to reflect NOT on just the friends that were lost but on the whole conflict and how it impacted our nation. I'm sure my dad would probably feel the same if he had a monument to reflect the sacrifices his generation gave during WWII..Maybe he will ge to see one finally!!!All nations, family members, and survivors who watched the horrors from 9-11 unfold will not need a statue to remind them. But we would benefit for the correct type of memorial to honor that day and serve as a reflective statement how mankind did change from that days events. Lets slow down a bit to rush who's first--lets do whats right.
*...Tara, I agree with you......Dodge the lighting............Newf......What Mike Smith says...
*Leave re-writing history to Orwell's Animal Farm and others, and leave tributes to the people who deserve them... in this case the three firefighters in question.(From Canada's wet west coast,snowing tonight.)
*Leave re-writing history to Orwell's Animal FarmAn accurate satire of events during the Russian revolution -- what's your problem with that?
*Bruce Ratner is the CEO of Forest City Ratner Enterprises, who lease the building to the FDNY for their headquarters. His funding, his idea. Ratner and his wife have close ties to NY's newest senator and her husband, and automatically got the OK to have it constructed, and installed.
*So...a sculpture is being placed on private property with private funds by the guy who owns the place. Over to you, Tara...
*Latest news is that the sculpture isn't going to be done after all.Private property? Yes. Private statue? Not hardly.The man was using another's great picture as a prop for what is just another politically correct stab. Milking the public for sympathy and using 09/11 as a method to his madness is ludicrous.
*No need to find a Demo bogey-man in every ill-conceived work of art. Why would this dude need your sympathy, and what in his effort rises to madness? You demean the words speaking like that. Keep it between the lines, gal.As to the photo, one could say the photographer was just milking a national tragedy for personal recognition, no? I didn't think so.
*Tara,If no public money is being used, and the statue is on private property, then I don't see how you can argue against it without claiming that people don't have the right to do what they want on their own property with their own money.> The man was using another's great picture as a prop for what is just another politically correct stab. Milking the public for sympathy and using 09/11 as a method to his madness is ludicrous.He's milking 09/11 by spending money on a non-income producing project?? The only case here is perhaps a copyright infringement suit by the photographer.Rich Beckman
*I've got to fess up, I fumbled when I wrote my previous post.I was thinking of a ground zero memorial vs one at the firehouse.If it's as others have written, a memorial at the firehouse, let the firemen and the owner of the property figure out what they want.
*The proposed location of installation was in front of FDNY HQ, as atribute to those lost on 9/11. A plaque was to state the same. I don't believe the sidewalk is private property. And regardless of whether they own them outright or not, city buildings are public places.I also think it's safe to assume it would also have stated WHO donated it. This would have not only placed his name in history, but also stood for his accomplishment, generosity, and philanthropy. Whether he deserves these attributes, I don't know.What this may have added to his clout in NYC, no one knows.Statue WAS a direct copy of a photograph, and should not have been altered. Period.
*Tara, Mike: Th idiot, Demo, Clinton hanger-on, suck-up fatcat who thought this up has had the grace to back down when his error was pointed out. Could you not have the same?
*Grace? Don't be so naive, media pressure forced him.
*Well, that answers that.
*Just finished the John Adams bio by McCullough. In a section describing Adam's first viewing of the famous Trumball painting depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence:> What Adams thought as he looked at the painting will never be known. A few years earlier, hearing that Trumball was to undertake such a commission, Adams had lectured him on the importance of accuracy. "Truth, nature, fact, should be your sole guide," Adams had said. "Let not our posterity be deluded with fictions under the pretense of poetical or graphical license."...Some lines about Adams' regard for Rubens.> Clearly, Trumbull was no Rubens, and concern for accuracy had not been a major consideration.b No such scene, with all the delegates present, had ever occurred at Philadelphia.emphasis added.A very famous painting though.Rich Beckman
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