A Stone's Throw from Ground Zero, the Pain Endures
Inside Madison Square Garden, the Republicans capitalize on New York's pain. Outside, the police cause more anguish by clamping down on dissent.
September 2004
Jacob Wheeler Utne.com
NEW YORK -- Stand in the middle of Central Park and rotate
'round and 'round, blinking your eyes continuously. You'll see
shirtless Asian boys learning to kick box, Latinos jamming to a
boom box, an older white couple sharing a bottle of Chardonnay,
Africans playing chess. These are snapshots not of America, but of
New York, the world's city that culturally belongs to every nation
and no nation at the same time.
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But listen to the rhetoric seeping out of Madison Square Garden
this week, more specifically the words of Michael Bloomberg and
Rudolph Giuliani, and you may trick yourself into believing that
the Big Apple represents the United States, or that most New
Yorkers actually feel a connection with Iowans, Texans or Idahoans,
the likes of whom have invaded Manhattan this week for the
Republican National Convention.
George W. Bush's supporters from the heartland hark back to the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 compulsively, as if their
right to continue breathing fresh air after this November depends
on it. But many of the outsiders swarming the streets don't seem to
get the message that New Yorkers have for them: 'Don't use our pain
for your political gain!'
The gaping hole that was created in lower Manhattan almost three
years ago left a void in the hearts and psyche of many locals. Most
cried; many screamed; some chanted 'USA, USA, USA' where the World
Trade Center towers once stood; and many supported the Bush
administration's decision to invade Afghanistan to root out the
culprits. But a Republican National Convention boasting an
oversimplified message to reelect an unpopular incumbent blending
into New York City's worldly, progressive, and complex culture is
like oil and water mixing. Don't count on it.
'If using the legacy of September 11 is a publicity stunt, it's
a bad stunt,' said Dorsett Santos at the Poor People's March on
Tuesday. 'This is the only thing Bush can write on his presidential
resume. But New York does not want to be known for that.'
Larry Nodarse touted a sign at Ground Zero yesterday reading,
RNC delegates, Stop exploiting the mass murder of 2,749 people
on September 11, 2001. He talked to me about his rage as a
homeless man nearby played 'Amazing Grace' on his flute:
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