OK, Let It Be a White Statue

Newsday ^ | January 17, 2002 | Clarence Page

[sarcasm]

I GUESS ALL that national unity and good feeling that followed the tragedies of Sept. 11 was just too good to last.

A planned memorial to honor the 343 firefighters who died at the World Trade Center has sparked a firestorm of its own.

Let's just say that some people don't like the way it recolors history.

The proposed 19-foot bronze statue is based on the now-famous news photo of three firemen raising an American flag over the rubble at Ground Zero.

[nopardons]

Because he is a " bed wetting ", BLACK race hustling , Liberal.

[Free Trapper]

Jeff Head was saying to keep pushing signatures on his petition,to keep the momentum going and possibly be able to help get a factual representation placed at Ground Zero in the future.The PC bunch was talking like they might abandon the Flag Raising Statue completely for something more(representative)of the NYFD.Could someone link to Jeff Head's petition.Afraid I don't know how.

[des]

The artist can do as the artist pleases. This event, however, ranks with seeing Lady Liberty in Tieneman Square. How we memorialize this event is not up to an artist. There are many artists and few heroes.

[TomGuy]

Link to WTC Flag Raising Petition.

Jeff's petition is at 22,912 now.

[johnny7]

I am an artist. Some say good others say so what.

When you do a piece based on a photo, you follow it to the letter.

You capture a second in time. The warts and all.

The Iwo Jima monument is a case in point. It followed Rosenthals photo as best as the sculpter could do.

He did not take any artistic license with him when he went into the studio. He depicted the photo as best as he could.

The truth is always more fascinating than fiction.

[des]

Thank you.

[Gladwin]

Ira Hayes

b. January 12, 1923 Sacaton, Arizona

d. January 24, 1955 Bapchule, Arizona

Ira Hayes was a Pima Indian. When he enlisted in the Marine Corps, he had hardly ever been off the Reservation. His Chief told him to be an "Honorable Warrior" and bring honor upon his family. Ira was a dedicated Marine. Quiet and steady, he was admired by his fellow Marines who fought alongside him in three Pacific battles.

When Ira learned that President Roosevelt wanted him and the other survivors to come back to the US to raise money on the 7th Bond Tour, he was horrified. To Ira, the heroes of Iwo Jima, those deserving honor, were his "good buddies" who died there.

At the White House, President Truman told Ira, "You are an American hero." But Ira didn't feel pride. As he later lamented, "How could I feel like a hero when only five men in my platoon of 45 survived, when only 27 men in my company of 250 managed to escape death or injury?"

The Bond Tour was an ordeal for Ira. He couldn't understand or accept the adulation . . . "It was supposed to be soft duty, but I couldn't take it. Everywhere we went people shoved drinks in our hands and said 'You're a Hero!' We knew we hadn't done that much but you couldn't tell them that."

[Gladwin]

Ira Hayes in later years . . .

Ira went back to the reservation attempting to lead an anonymous life. But it didn't turn out that way . . . "I kept getting hundreds of letters. And people would drive through the reservation, walk up to me and ask, 'Are you the Indian who raised the flag on Iwo Jima"

Ira tried to drown his "Conflict of Honor" with alcohol. Arrested as drunk and disorderly, his pain was clear . . . "I was sick. I guess I was about to crack up thinking about all my good buddies. They were better men than me and they're not coming back. Much less back to the White House, like me."

In 1954, Ira reluctantly attended the dedication of the Iwo Jima monument in Washington. After a ceremony where he was lauded by President Eisenhower as a hero once again, a reporter rushed up to Ira and asked him, "How do you like the pomp & circumstances?" Ira just hung his head and said, I don't."

Ira died three months later after a night of drinking. As Ira drank his last bottle of whiskey he was crying and mumbling about his "good buddies." Ira was 32.

From this website

[Free Trapper]

Thanks for the link.Rather than being force fed the PCBS,I'd like my children to see some truth during their lives.Jeff Head's petition is sending a strong message to the liars,at the very least.

[Free Trapper]

Between President Bush and 911 a lot of Americans have opened their eyes to the Leftwing's lies.The PC crowd is squirming because the truth is too hard for them to bear.If we can keep the light of day on their perversions of facts,even more people will awaken to the truth.

[JessicaDragonet]

It wouldn't surprise me if they slapped a burka on Lady Liberty! Geeze....no wonder they don't teach history in school anymore.

[RogueIsland]

Except, unlike the three firemen in the photo who are all white, the statue depicts one white, one black and one Hispanic.

I think tis is very insulting to those firemen of Asian extraction. That Clarence would support such an exclusionary memorial suggests to me that he is a racist. < /sarcasm >

[goldstategop]

A tiresome formula. Where is the inherent diversity in mandating humanity must be parceled out according to skin color, gender, and sexual orientation? I just don't see the point.

[Free Trapper]

I've been waiting to see someone like Registered do a PC painting of something like(The Signing Of The Declaration Of Independence)to poke fun at the liars,but they would probably swear it was historic fact.No,not probably,they would.

[QueenCityAllan]

I saw an interesting comment someone else posted yesterday on a different thread on this same subject.

How do you suppose Mr. Page would be reacting if the original photo had been of three black men raising the flag and the statue was changed to include a white and Hispanic man? The wailing on discrimination and racism would be heard up one side of Manhattan and down the other.

[Khepera]

And so they made race an issue but now "WE" are racists for not wanting their raciest depiction? Get real!

[meenie]

You have to feel sorry for the mainstream of black people that are taking such a beating of their image by Paige, Jackson, Sharpton, and others. There are a number of hard-working, honest blacks with good values that are painted with the brush of whining, ant-American drivel spouted by their supposed "leaders".

[Free Trapper]

The PC liars could overspin a top.

[Zon]

In fact, many artists will tell you that their job is to represent, not to duplicate.

Let's inspect what propaganda was being represented in the art.

Art has long been used as a powerful tool of propaganda. IMO, the race issue/problem clouds the heart of the issue/problem. It just goes to prove that anybody can appreciate fine art. Yes, a photo that captures the expression and moment is art. Bad art is not captivating.

I read in one of the articles that the design for the statue included changes other than ethnic. A lot is missing from the character of the firefighter on the left -- the right-hand position is, IMO, a classic working-man posture. And the firefighter on the left leaning forward with arm straining upward changes his character.

Setting aside the ethnic issue, IMO, the clay statue has a "salute to the flag/government" feel to it. Whereas the photo has a "salute to the heroes/patriots/country" feel to it. I find the difference most prominent in the firefighter on the left. Moderately in the firefighter on the right. And moderately in the firefighter at center because his head is looking upward where the flag is not supposed to be. The flag being so high above the firefighters, IMO, adds to the "salute the flag/government".

I'm really curious to know who else sensed a similar loss of aesthetic appeal from the non-ethnic changes in the three characters? 18

The workers/heroes/patriots of America created the country -- not the flag/government. The tremendous values that the workers/heroes/patriots in the WTC twin towers pumped into society every few days was more than they themselves would consume in their lifetimes. And the majestic, aesthetic appeal of the twin towers eclipsing the New York City skyline is fitting with the workers/heroes/patriots that make this country the greatest in the world. Their presence was undeniable.

It is the workers/heroes/patriots that created the flag/government and their creation cannot be legitimately placed in higher value than its creators. I think the people that designed and sculpted the clay statue tried to usurp the highest value. 23

I don't think it was pay back. Rather, like Hillary, Ratner is trying to usurp the highest value that makes this the greatest country in the world. See post #23 24

Good choice of before and after words--strong natural character wimpified. The statue character seems much smaller in importance than in the fireman in photo. 33

It's not lost on me. I see it. Similar to Hillary being booed off the stage. She tried to usurp greatness. She didn't earn a right to be on the stage and probably not even in the audience. Paul McCartney earned his way into greatness as did the firefighters and police officers. For that matter, the workers/heroes/patriots that make this the greatest country in the world are of greater value than the government/politicians they allow to meddle in the affairs of their great country. 38

It reminds me of Soviet art from the Stalin era. Also notice how the fireman on the left has had his clothes altered.

As a work of "art" the whole thing is altered subtly in nearly a dozen places so that the overall reflection is grossly altered. Once we set the ethnic issue aside we get to the heart of the issue.

That sculpture gives me the creeps.

It really does. Has a lot to do with reflecting on the art in the photo that is very pro-worker/hero/patriot. ...That can't be missed. Great art has that affect/effect. 

Juxtaposition to the statue that in the name of "art" is anti-worker/hero/patriot...pro-state/government. That's an inversion of values intended to usurp and oppress. 53

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