I hope I don't get in trouble posting this reply to a private
letter and the original letter. Well, here goes ......
Lola, (your letter is posted below my reply)
I don't think you are off base at all. We just have a
different opinion about the issue. I think any statue
of that type is political in nature. And should be
designed to send a powerful message. If it were a statue
about the Navajo code talkers, I would expect it to
show Navajo faces. I see it as a statue honoring all
that died on 9/11 and not the three fire fighters who
just happened to hoist the flag. But you have a different
view, that's fine.
My letter did get published in the Star and someone
even wrote another responding to mine. That's healthy, to have
a dialogue about the issue. It bothers me that we might have
to resort to memorials that are only abstract in nature to avoid
the race issue. Like the chairs in Oklahoma City or Maya Lin's wall
in DC. (which I love) Of course there was a outcry about her
wall when some veterans found out that one of those people
designed our memorial. Why, we went to Asia to kill those
people didn't we ? I want us to celebrate our diversity rather
than hide it. A columnist wrote that children of the future
could look back at the three white faces on the statue as a
reminder of what racial division was like in 2001. I hope not.
Woody in KC
A copy of my letter follows:
I was amazed to read of the controversy over one artists idea
to represent various races in a proposed Ground Zero monument.
Using the flag raising photo as inspiration the artist wishes to
honor and remember those who willingly risk their lives daily
for the rest of us. Why do some small minds insist that the
statue depict only the three white firefighters who were
photographed raising the flag. Would it not be more fitting to
embrace us all and depict what America is suppose to be about
so we can strive for a better more inclusive country. I suppose
the real shame is that in 2002 some still need to see many issues
as race issues. I understand that at present only 5.9 percent of
New York, City's firefighters are black or hispanic, but over time
hopefully that too will change. For it serves everyone and is not
just a "white" institution. Perhaps in 2102 school children will look
upon the statue and not dwell upon the fact that one hundred years
earlier many of their ancestors saw everything as black or white
and not in the many beautiful colors an artists sees.
Lola's letter follows........
Lola Laird wrote:
Hi Woody:
Just a thought on the sculpture of the three firemen at ground zero. I
work in a multi-cultural inner city school with the most diversified
population in the city. I love the kids and want them all to be
successful. Don't look at myself as biased or prejudiced. That being
said, I'd like to share with you my initial reaction to the sculpture.
I was astounded that the sculptor would base his art on realistically (and
the key word here is "realistically') projecting an event that actually
happened and then take artistic license to change people's perception of
the actual event. I really wonder what those dedicated firefighters think
when they see themselves taken out of a sculpture that is based on their
real life valor. Isn't that insulting?
If....the artist truly wanted to do a sculpture honoring all the dedicated
people in the event, then why didn't he use his or her creativity to think
of a way to honor them without basing it on a real-life event. How sad to
think we can manipulate reality that way. How wonderful that there are so
many talented and creative works of art about 9/11 based on "original
ideas". I've seen many of them.
Let me know Woody, if I am off base here. It is confusing to me.
