At first, I was a little shocked by the fact that they would make a statue based off the

picture in the first place. I had it in my mind that putting the flag up on the rubble meant
"We are American, and we have brought down this mighty beast! Congratulations, us!"
I'm going to blame that mindset on FOOF.

Looking at it from a more correct perspective, the flag on top of the rubble shows how
the heroes of the day, the firefighters, would not be bested by the acts of some mere
terrorists, that they could overcome whatever hardships came their way. How's that for
American ideals. Nevermind the fact that thousands of people were killed and the World
Trade Center destroyed. If the firefighters really wanted historical accuracy, maybe they
would petition for a second statue alongside the first, a statue of a gruesome depiction
of firefighters going in to save the day and never coming out again. Are there not heroes
in the dead? Maybe that statue would be too graphic, too dark, against the tone of
today's society - perhaps it would not be politically correct?

If you couldn't already tell, I am against the firefighters' response to the statue. In my
opinion, arguing on the basis of abandoning historical accuracy for political correctness
is wrong. The monument isn't intended to glorify those three men that happened to be
depicted in the photo, it is meant for "everyone connected to Sept. 11 and the World
Trade Center". Yes, the statue may be based off the picture, but it is intended to
represent a situation much bigger than the picture itself. Unless white firefighters were
the only ones to go and help with the rescue effort, it isn't historically accurate to only
have white firefighters. The artist had a keen awareness of this information, and I agree
with his decision to have three different races. Could he have put other races in there?
Yes, but the point would be the same. All firefighters, regardless of race, were heroes of
America that day. For the firefighters to argue against having the statue, especially with
the reason of historical accuracy, either shows a blind misinterpretation of the memorial
or that whole "white supremacy" thing.

However, with the firefighters protesting as they were, I think it was appropriate for the
FDNY to cancel the 9/11 statue. They recognized it would cause a conflict where there
shouldn't be one. After all, a memorial to our 9/11 heroes should bring us closer
together, not tear us apart.

Is the memorial lying? To answer this question, I don't really care about race. Be them
white or black or Latino, they all helped save the day. In that case, it would not be lying
in any way. HOWEver, 9/11 was a day full of grief and realization for the American
people. The wails of the families of the fallen, the cries of the injured, the mangled
bodies and blank looks of the dead, that is what 9/11 was. To make a statue that
glorifies the living men who put an American flag on top of all that death and suffering,
rather than make a statue that shows what 9/11 really felt like, that, I think, is the worst
lie to be told.