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Home Front
PeeCee firefighters' memorial is no more
2002-01-18
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  • A developer has scrapped plans to commission a politically correct statue that would have changed the races of two of the three firefighters who took part in a celebrated flag-raising at Ground Zero. After talks with Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, developer Bruce Ratner abandoned efforts to erect the statue, which was to be based on a photo that made the front pages of newspapers nationwide. All three firefighters in the original picture are white. But Ratner's plan called for one fireman to be white, another to be black and the third Hispanic - setting off a firestorm of controversy.
    Millions of us non-politically correct rubes are highly gratified. It's our feeling that honoring the three specific firefighters would have honored all firefighters. Changing the races of the men makes them abstractions. It honors the commissioner's piety and relegates the actual heroes to side issues. There's also the argument that among those working in the ruins were other "races" than the three represented, so there really should be more than just three. There should be an Athabaskan to honor the Native Americans, and an Eskimo, and a Hindu, and a Sikh, and a Bushman and an Australian aborigine... Don't foget the handicapped - put one of the firemen in a wheelchair. And women. We have two sexes, you know. Make sure at least some of those are female. Don't make the bosoms too big, 'cuz that'd be sexist. Oh, and the lesbians: have some of the females holding hands or something, okay? And we all know there were lots of dogs there, working right alongside the people, so add a puppy.

    There actually are practical problems with how to represent the "Hispanic race." I personally think it was the sombrero that shot the whole idea down in the end.
    • Posted by:Fred Pruitt

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