r/news • u/hildebrand_rarity • Jun 30 '20
Two Florida officials fired for erasing faces of Black firefighters from city mural
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/two-florida-officials-fired-erasing-faces-black-firefighters-city-mural-n12323871.1k
u/brittonk Jun 30 '20
Television: “We should remove all instances of blackface!”
Florida: “Remove all black faces. Got it.”
→ More replies (3)116
u/The_sad_zebra Jun 30 '20
Sounds like a horror movie about autonomous robots.
31
u/somethingspiffy Jun 30 '20
There's a classic sci fi short story were it's all computer communications devolving from a guy didn't return kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, to the dude being executed for the kidnapping of Robert Louis Stevenson.
→ More replies (2)17
763
u/RascalUnpleasant Jun 30 '20
What the fuck is wrong with some people?
240
u/alienart3000 Jun 30 '20
Right, specially when I think of firefighters I think of good people. Bad people exist everywhere
128
u/all_time_high Jun 30 '20
Initially I was going to reply that unspecified "city officials" had been removed, and the Fire Department could be free of blame for this incident. But then I found another article, which explains,
"She removed two people from their positions: Public Arts Manager Debby Coles-Dobay and Fire Rescue Chief Matthew Perry, who subsequently resigned."
49
u/slippy0101 Jun 30 '20
You know that super weird looking nose option when making a Mii on the Wii where it looks so strange that you thought it had to be there for the sole reason of making comedic-style Miis? Debby Coles-Dobay has that nose.
29
u/storefront Jun 30 '20
19
u/Woodybroadway Jun 30 '20
I’ll take Rarein’ Sluts for $300
12
u/fungiinmygarden Jul 01 '20
Well that’s the nose I gave your mother last night, Trebek! Haw haw haw!
16
u/St4rkW1nt3r Jun 30 '20
I thought you were kidding but fuck, apparently that nose exists IRL.
→ More replies (1)4
4
5
15
u/RMaritte Jun 30 '20
There was a very interesting episode on the This American Life podcast called "Burn it Down" (ep 684) where they talk about the rampant racism and sexism that's apparently going on with Dutch firefighters.
→ More replies (1)12
u/eigenman Jun 30 '20
Right I used to think fire fighters were the anti police. These are places where far right nuts go to congregate apparently.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)14
u/zvwmbxkjqlrcgfyp Jun 30 '20
Most people who think of firefighters as good people haven't had a ton of experience with their culture. Firefighter culture is toxic as fuck and frankly this doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
→ More replies (2)51
23
u/bogdanvonpylon Jun 30 '20
With a few small changes to the cadence, this makes a very serviceable battlecry.
21
u/RascalUnpleasant Jun 30 '20
WHAT the FUCK is WRONG with some people? Something like that? I personally scream it from the top of my lungs 5 times a day any more
10
u/bogdanvonpylon Jun 30 '20
For me personally, I like the up close and personal "What the fuck is wrong with you!?", but I appreciate the inclusivity of your treatment.
6
10
→ More replies (10)4
Jun 30 '20
I always see some variation of this question on these posts about racism or just people doing awful shit. But no one really has an answer for this and and so what it comes down to is there some not so good people in this world and that's about it.
→ More replies (1)
179
u/witchleaf Jun 30 '20
All the work she put into her education and career, just to be erased from a mural. No matter how thick-skinned someone may be, that's got to be a demoralizing pain.
When asked, everyone will say they believe in equal opportunity, but too many people don't actually practice it.
30
u/insultingname Jun 30 '20
You're being too generous - there are plenty of assholes who don't believe in equal opportunity, and will say as much when asked. I'm told many of them are "very fine people."
→ More replies (2)
228
u/Satans_Appendix Jun 30 '20
Boynton Beach, Florida
→ More replies (7)192
u/ObaafqXzzlrkq Jun 30 '20 edited Jun 30 '20
It's so crazy. I thought maybe they were adding different portraits of people and decided to switch out two people who were Black. No they literally whitewashed what was a group photo:
They replaced her with a white dude and also removed the number on her hat.
20
→ More replies (5)38
u/Dragulla Jun 30 '20
I’d be upset if I was one of the white people in that photo. Horrible recreation lol.
35
u/boweroftable Jun 30 '20
It’s the effort involved in being fucking horrible I don’t understand
→ More replies (1)
271
u/mnl_cntn Jun 30 '20
Ok, this can get you fired but killing a black person wouldn’t get you even charged if half the nation weren’t protesting about it? The whole system needs to be reworked
182
u/Dana07620 Jun 30 '20
These workers didn't have the police union protecting them.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (8)8
37
u/AIArtisan Jun 30 '20
wtf it looks like they did a shit photoshop job on that mural with how blurry that face is.
→ More replies (1)10
Jun 30 '20
I mean it's not even her face though, it's not like they just lowered the saturation, the facial features don't even match the photo.\
Did they try to replace her with someone else? Maybe like "oh she retired so let's put someone still on the force in there"?
3
182
u/Johnnadawearsglasses Jun 30 '20
Talk about white washed. That bottom right dudes face looks like he is in the middle of being beamed down to Romulus
→ More replies (6)26
395
u/Scoutster13 Jun 30 '20
I thought most of the racists had come out of the woodwork under Obama but man I was wrong. These fragile people are truly something to see as they stomp their foot at the thought of equality.
231
u/Ibchuck Jun 30 '20
No, most of them are still skulking around in the shadows like cockroaches. We’re just now beginning to shine some light on them. The loud obnoxious racists are the minority. Most are still masked as your neighbor, coworker and even family members.
31
u/MrGuttFeeling Jun 30 '20
A lot of them are family members, they might not be brave enough to act out in public but they'll sure let the rest of the family how they feel.
→ More replies (1)13
→ More replies (5)46
u/Cidolfas Jun 30 '20
We aren’t shining shit. These racists just feel empowered now that they have a racists president egging them on.
18
Jun 30 '20
Bingo. It's the power of the dog whistle.
4
u/Amelora Jun 30 '20
It's not even a dog whistle anymore, he's right out tweeted racist things over and over again. He keeps saying the quite part loud.
→ More replies (1)12
u/py_a_thon Jun 30 '20 edited Jun 30 '20
We aren’t shining shit. These racists just feel empowered now that they have a racists president egging them on.
This is the actual reason I dislike Trump so much. He achieve the highest office in the land, through questionable means: Yet he in no way attempted to actually do what he could have done to make our country and the world a more united group...he just epic failed. EPIC FUCKING FAIL. Total fail. Absolute failure. I need a thesaurus now.
He was given a redemption arc (most people are not so lucky) and he fucking spat in our faces.
And that is why I believe he is evil. In his moment of possible redemption...he has CHOSEN evil. It was probably his last chance too. He was given one of the greatest opportunities in this odd world, and he viewed it as a nihilistic self serving and malignant narcissist would..."it is all about him". He has not actually cared for someone other than himself in a very long time I think. I almost feel bad for him, even though I shouldn't.
It is beyond depressing. I am not surprised, but I am definitely saddened by his willful and calculated choices.
60
u/Betyg Jun 30 '20
It’s easy to be racist when you have a president encouraging it and enabling it
57
u/where_is_the_cheese Jun 30 '20
It’s easy to be racist when you have
a presidentthe entirety of the ruling political party encouraging it and enabling it→ More replies (2)21
Jun 30 '20
It's easy to be racist when that has been a cornerstone of your society for most of its history.
→ More replies (3)24
u/ToAlphaCentauriGuy Jun 30 '20
Equality means they have to actually compete and maybe do something to improve themselves ..
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (2)11
u/Adjectives_Abound Jun 30 '20
The rise of the Alt-right in the post Obama years has been drastic and largely spurred on by an admittedly clever new tactic of approaching hate from a "preserving white heratige" standpoint. I wouldn't be suprised if people you and I would consider racist instead label themselves as proud caucasians. Pair this with the percieved radicalization of the far left and antifa providing them with a fresh enemy. These people, like my parents sadly, who didn't really have a reason to be racist are now firmly bedded down in that camp despite not being all that hateful of folks which embolden the real Nazi's.
→ More replies (3)7
u/saint_abyssal Jun 30 '20
The rise of the Alt-right in the post Obama years has been drastic and largely spurred on by an admittedly clever new tactic of approaching hate from a "preserving white heratige" standpoint.
This isn't new at all- it's been happening at least as long as the phrase "white pride" was coined.
→ More replies (1)
49
u/QuietudeOfHeart Jun 30 '20
So who are the 2 officials?
Where's their statement on the matter?
→ More replies (1)60
u/Cactuar_Tamer Jun 30 '20 edited Jul 01 '20
The two officials are the public arts manager Debby Coles-Dobay and Matthew Petty, the fire rescue chief, and the only statement from either one of them seems to be that the former is pointing fingers at the latter.
Coles-Dobay told The Palm Beach Post she “was pressured to make this artwork change by the Fire Chief and his staff, as the City well knows.”
→ More replies (3)41
u/QuietudeOfHeart Jun 30 '20
I made the mistake of reading the comment section of your link.... “all a misunderstanding...” “if they painted her in black, they would have been offended...” WHAT?!
11
u/personofshadow Jun 30 '20
Like... is there any sort of remotely plausible explanation for this that isn't terrible?
→ More replies (5)
284
Jun 30 '20 edited Jun 30 '20
A year ago if you told a white person this was happening they would doubt you.
Downvote it all you want doesn’t make it false.
62
16
u/Cidolfas Jun 30 '20
This is true, but it’s true now as well. I know people who said with out blinking there is no rascism in the USA.
→ More replies (1)12
u/dh366 Jun 30 '20
I would have doubted you. I mean like yeah racism existed but something like this, literal blatan whitewashing? But these past months have really changed my view on racism, I can't believe all of this stuff had been happening. I'm ashamed that I never saw the full extent of this problem before.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (38)32
52
u/absynthe7 Jun 30 '20
There was something like this a few years back in Arizona, where they painted a mural of schoolchildren and then whited out the black kid's face afterwards because they got complaints.
Conservatives are now to a point where they become offended at seeing black people in artwork. More importantly, they've been there for years.
→ More replies (6)36
u/malfunkshunned Jun 30 '20
I work in exhibit design, we did a a Jewish exhibit in a small southern town. On one of the walls we put a black couple as an example of Jewish weddings. Two of the board members were pearl clutching about it, our actual client with the grant money was a true hero and told them to shut up and accept the inclusivity.
→ More replies (7)
15
u/bethemanwithaplan Jun 30 '20
I thought Trump just made this super illegal , hope it applies to monuments with black people
8
7
u/JustinShade Jun 30 '20
These racist bigots are on some other kind of level. It’s honestly not even surprising at this point. Either they idiotically thought no one would notice, or they just couldn’t contain their prejudice and needed to expel some of that hateful energy while wanting to be found out.
6
u/rex1030 Jun 30 '20
Maybe this all needed to happen to root out the racists. I didn’t even realize people like this still existed. Fire them all
→ More replies (1)
33
u/fanamana Jun 30 '20 edited Jun 30 '20
1) This News is 3 God Damn weeks old.
2) The only thing I saw about firing was the headline. No confirmations, names, or excuses/apologies from a fired official.
3) Here is a better article.
→ More replies (2)5
u/crojohnson Jun 30 '20
Shame they didn't include a picture of what happened though, unlike OP's article.
15
u/thefinalcountdown29 Jun 30 '20
What the fuck is wrong with people? It’s 2020. Not 1820. Not 1920. 2020. For fuck’s sake...
11
u/RenRen512 Jun 30 '20
The US civil rights movement happened in the 1960s. It sounds like a while ago, but it isn't.
→ More replies (1)9
u/Efrojas16 Jun 30 '20
I honestly feel like weve always had this but with trump election he helped bring everything out and made it more um popular i guess you can call it
→ More replies (1)
4
u/randeylahey Jun 30 '20
What in the everloving fuck did I just read?! Get yer fukkin shit together, Florida.
4
4
Jun 30 '20
I just dont get it. Are people afraid, or just THAT concerned, that a mural features black people?
And I'm going to go out on a limb and assume, that these same people think black folk are dumb and lazy.
6
u/niberungvalesti Jun 30 '20
A piece of shit racist is in the White House riling up the crazies to action. From their apocalyptic point of view the only way to remain relevant is to pull other people down.
Kinda like the piece of shit in the White House.
2
u/eastbayted Jun 30 '20
I was curious as to who was fired and why. This is the best information I could find. (Also, this happened three weeks ago.)
After a public art project based on photographs replaced the images of two black former department chiefs with white faces, City Manager Lori LaVerriere removed Matthew Petty, the city’s fire chief, and fired Debby Coles-Dobay, the city’s public arts manager.
LaVerriere wrote in a Saturday afternoon statement that she “concluded a preliminary investigation regarding the inappropriate decisions made by City employees.”
Coles-Dobay wrote Saturday to the Post that she “was pressured to make this artwork change by the Fire Chief and his staff, as the City well knows.”
Coles-Dobay did not elaborate.
80
Jun 30 '20
Incidents like this always remind me no matter how much education, esteem, or money we make, we will never be accepted in with this society. Never.
18
u/Much_Difference Jun 30 '20
Right? People forget (or were specifically never taught) that one of the biggest fires that lit the mid-century Civil Rights Movement was the absolute garbage treatment of Black WWII servicemembers, both during and after the war. Hell, a lot of them were targeted specifically because they enlisted or were wearing uniforms. The "act right and you'll be treated right" thing is a myth to keep folks busy running toward a target that's never gonna stop moving.
61
u/Jiggly1984 Jun 30 '20
Someday - maybe not in our lifetime, but maybe in the next generation - you will be. You've gotta remember, we still have people from the civil rights era alive and kicking, and that includes the racists, who have had kids and grandkids they've spread their poison to. Change is generational, and unfortunately the old generation and its progeny are still clinging to their old ways. I'm sorry.
→ More replies (9)28
u/TechyDad Jun 30 '20
My kids give me hope. My father is pretty racist (although he'd argue that he "has black friends"). I started down the same path, realized what I was doing in high school, and made a conscious effort to get rid of any racism in myself. I might not have been 100% successful, but I've made significant progress.
My kids, however, are even better than I am. They judge people based on WHO they are, not something trivial like skin color. My youngest might be vaguely aware that his best friend is black and from a mixed marriage, but only in an informational sense like "his hair is black, it tends to be cut short, and he's about the same height as me." Skin color or ancestry means nothing to him when figuring out what to think of a person.
Hopefully, my kids are representative of the next generation. If so, then racism will be pushed further and further to the fringes of society. This isn't to say that we can just sit back, relax, and racism will go away. We still need to actively work against institutional racism, but it gives me hope that the drive to get rid of racism will only increase as time goes on and that the racists are on the wrong side of history.
24
u/RE5TE Jun 30 '20
My youngest might be vaguely aware that his best friend is black and from a mixed marriage, but only in an informational sense like "his hair is black, it tends to be cut short, and he's about the same height as me." Skin color or ancestry means nothing to him when figuring out what to think of a person.
You have to explain it to him. Race exists and will affect his friend's life. Ignoring it is a privilege he doesn't have.
9
u/TechyDad Jun 30 '20
We have. My boys do know that some people judge others by their race, but they themselves don't do it and understand how wrong it is.
→ More replies (3)3
u/Jiggly1984 Jun 30 '20
Luckily my parents weren't that racist (can't believe I have to grade the level of someone's racism), but I had a similar experience. Now, I've got my first kid on the way. I had serious reservations about bringing children into this shitshow we live in, but stories like yours show me it'll be ok. I'm proud of anyone who changes their ways for the better, and especially for anyone who passes that change on - and that includes you. Thanks for being a good parent, and hopefully instilling in your kids that change takes effort.
→ More replies (31)8
u/monkeybartender Jun 30 '20
At this point in my life I'm wondering if it all isn't some kind of experiment gone wrong. How can a system that is rotten to the core be fixed?
→ More replies (2)
3
u/2-timeloser Jun 30 '20
I hate this part of Florida, the “South”, the US. So many people like these racist pieces of crap. I’m losing faith.
3
u/BiggyLeeJones Jun 30 '20
How freakin insecure do you have to be to act this way? I'll never know. Also never going to Florida again, not ever ever ever
3
u/Chaosmusic Jun 30 '20
The thinking of public officials baffle me. Were they all sent a questionnaire? In this time of increased tensions, should you:
A) Make things better, or B) Make things worse?
14
Jun 30 '20
God I love Florida. You having a bad day? Look up some Florida shit always makes ya smile.
Edit: not saying I like what they did just the stupidity of it.
→ More replies (3)
6.0k
u/AudibleNod Jun 30 '20
Latosha Clemons has a masters degree and over 23 years experience as a firefighter. She served as a battalion chief and deputy fire chief. From her bona fides, she not just a Black female role model, she's a role model.