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More Sculptures downtown

joeDowntown

By joeDowntown
in Grand Rapids

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Those persons who made a significant contribution to Grand Rapids should be honored regardless of their race. To say that a host of historical figures (who may happen to be a bunch of old dead white guys) would be boring is to say that history itself is boring. Also, to downplay a person's role (just because he is white and/or male) in favor of a less significant person's contributions to our city's culture or greatness (based solely on the basis of that person being of a different race or gender) us ludicrous and shows a disdain for history, prefering to give the spotlight to "political correctness" of our modern era.

Think in the long term people...I forsee that in 200 years (or maybe less) there will have been so many inter-racial marraiges that the definitions of Black, White, Native American, Asian will no longer be applicable, since we will all begin to be pretty much one culture/race. So in 200 years, would it not be better for people to be able to look upon the cheif people who built our city, and who's names grace our streets, rather than people of a more obscure historical contribution?

Don't see the color or the race, see the person and their objective contributions to history and culture, and then you will know that you are not a racist, but a human person.

I'll say this: Grand Rapids has an image of not being very diverse, and it is actually hurting our economy, according to several stakeholders in the community. Apparently, the statue committee was very cognizant of this (upon further investigation).

It has nothing to do with political correctness and trying to not insult people. It has to do with the image that is being portrayed and whether that is inclusive or exclusive.

I never said anyone was a racist, so I'm not sure where that is coming from.

Concretepoem, Lyon may have done a lot when he was young, but the statue is of an old guy:

http://photos.mlive.com/grandrapidspress/2...he_week_87.html

Sorry to ruin your thread joe. :blush:

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

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Yeah, wow, this thread is pretty stupid!

I can't believe a thread about sculpture has turned into a thread about how it is bad to cast dead middle-aged white guys in bronze. Maybe we should melt all this garbage into scrap. Washington, Lincoln, Franklin. All middle-aged white guys. Screw what they did. It's not cool to be middle-aged, caucasian, or dead anymore. Let's melt it all down and only have young, attractive and living men (caucasians need not apply) and women that may not have done anything in life yet~ but they might someday! Let's immortalize the barista that is slaving over $5 coffee just to make ends meet, the guy muttering to himself on the street (ah crap, he's white too. dang). Anything but that old guy who helped found our state constitution, Grand Rapids, and served in congress. He sounds like a slacker to me...

Screw history, it's so out-of-touch with what's happening in the world today.

Joe

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concretepoem Whistle-Stop

concretepoem

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I'll say this: Grand Rapids has an image of not being very diverse, and it is actually hurting our economy, according to several stakeholders in the community.

http://photos.mlive.com/grandrapidspress/2...he_week_87.html

That may be the image, but here's the reality. A quick look at the census data of several cities often pointed to with admiration on UP...Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Portland, OR, show those cities as having a nearly identical racial mix as Grand Rapids. I have a call B.S. on this assertion by "several stakeholders in the community" that the demographic makeup of GR is "actually hurting our economy."

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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So how do you guys feel about an American Indian and an African American woman being in the first five? Was that a mistake?

Considering that our racial makeup is probably even more diverse now than at the turn of the century, and women couldn't even vote back then, not less found the city, so how is it 40% of the first five are statistical outliers? And why is one a boxer?

You guys can kick and scream and make fun of my posts, but I'm not letting you off that easily.

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Explorer Unincorporated Area

Explorer

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actually i question why the boxer and the AA women are on there. they both may have been great people but how did they help build Grand Rapids?

Agreed. So what was the criteria exactly that was used? With the boxer - does that open the door to any professional athlete that just happens to have been born in GR?? I don't know his story... maybe he built a bunch of gyms, personally funded a local outreach program, invented the steel jock strap - which was then manufactured in GR providing jobs for thousands, - and can ultimately take some responsibility for the prosperity of the city. ...or maybe he is just a pro boxer who happens to have been born in GR.

I'm just curious as to what the exact intent was - without getting into semantics and interpretations.

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amylynne Whistle-Stop

amylynne

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The project is called "Community Legends" so I would think the idea is more to showcase people who gained some level of fame, people who we're proud to say were a part of our community.

Helen Claytor was an amazing woman who was not only the first black president of the GR YWCA, but was also the president of the National YWCA. She and her husband were very involved in the community as whole and especially in helping to fight a lot of the racial discrimation problems that were happening during that time. For more on her you can check out her Washington Post obit: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5051301615.html

I'm not as familiar with Stanley Ketchel, but it seems like he was a pretty big deal at the time and I'm sure that put GR on the map for people who were into boxing. Plenty of cities have statues to honor famous sports figures so I don't think this is really a stretch.

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Veloise City

Veloise

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Usually the first criterion, when selecting nominees for your local commemorative statuary, is: Must Be Dead. (This avoids future problems when the person turns into, say, O.J. Simpson.)

Requirement #2: the reaction can't be, "who??"

I am glad that Secchia is going with full-form designs, rather than body parts like the Joe Louis fist in DT Detroit.

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jas49503 Hamlet

jas49503

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His IMDB says he was born in Panorama, CA, and now resides in LA w/ a wife and 2 kids. I didn't see any indication he went to school here, but IMBD isn't right 100% of the time.

i guess neither am I. I had heard it a long time ago. my source must have been wrong. I also suggested him as a joke. ha ha!

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ArsEcclesiae Unincorporated Area

ArsEcclesiae

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Usually the first criterion, when selecting nominees for your local commemorative statuary, is: Must Be Dead. (This avoids future problems when the person turns into, say, O.J. Simpson.)

Requirement #2: the reaction can't be, "who??"

I am glad that Secchia is going with full-form designs, rather than body parts like the Joe Louis fist in DT Detroit.

Oh...so the appendage actually belongs to someone specific?

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Veloise City

Veloise

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From the Press article:

One of the guidelines is nominees must be deceased.

"Lyman Parks and Jay Van Andel have only become eligible recently," Secchia said.

This is inadvertently amusing (probably because I was just on Cyburbia where there is an annual Death Poll).

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droonus2000 Whistle-Stop

droonus2000

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The 7 ft, caught my eye, because I thought they were to be life-size. But this makes more sense. one height is easier then finding an exact height. I also think it's funny to make a statue of a guy where no know photo exists, according to the article. But i'm confident Antonio Mendez will create something to be proud of.

I too wish the time span for all of the legends to be installed were compacted, 2058 is a long ways off.

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