Posted on 01/18/2002 8:12:22 PM PST by Jean S
Public pressure and the threat of legal action scuttles the multicultural fire department memorial.
YESTERDAY New York City developer Forest City Ratner abandoned the design of a September 11 memorial it commissioned after the project brought outcries from firefighters and the public. Forest City Ratner, which manages fire department headquarters where a memorial will eventually stand, expressed a desire for the memorial to be a respected object in the community, a reality that clearly wasn't coming to pass with the proposed statue.
What the new memorial will look like is not known, but Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta stated that he would work with Forest City Ratner to "ensure a fitting memorial."
At the request of the New York fire department, a monument inspired by the now famous September 11 photo taken by Thomas Franklin of the Record was altered to satisfy politically correct sensibilities. The three firefighters--all Caucasian--captured in the photograph were replaced in the model with three unidentified firefighters of different races.
Both the Record and the three firefighters in the photograph retained legal representation to try to halt the project. The Record claimed Forest City Ratner was violating the paper's copyright, and the firefighters claimed rights to their images. Attorney Bill Kelly, representing both the firefighters and the Record, sent letters to Forest City Ratner and the FDNY demanding that they cease construction of the memorial. Kelly gave them a deadline that expired today; after that he planned to pursue litigation to obtain an injunction.
But persistent media exposure and dissent from all corners caused Forest City Ratner--which earlier in the week had reiterated its desire to proceed with the multicultural version of the memorial--to reconsider.
Beth Henary is an editorial assistant at The Weekly Standard.
The NYFD has it's own historic moment for casting in bronze, why no one has thought of it is beyond me. A staircase leading to a landing, followed by another staircase at a 90-degree angle, with firemen in full regalia charging up the stairs. It is real, it is powerful, and every race of man can be represented on the stairs, because every race of man charged up the stairs.
Note the singular tense. There are many more bad ideas coming down the pike.
The fact is that most white Americans are able to celebrate the victories of black Americans who are representing America. We don't insist that some white guy share the credit. We are glad of the victory for our country and don't get hung up on the color of the American winning the race. In truth, I think many (maybe most) blacks feel the same way. Unfortunately, a few people with their own inadequacy problems seem bent on insisting that people can only celebrate victories won by members of their own race. This attitude is extremely damaging to our country.
WFTR
Bill
Almost 37,000 signatures.
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