Tube City Almanac

June 27, 2006

But I Knows What I Likes

Category: default || By jt3y

Why don't I read Tunesmith & Anthony more often? Maybe I'm not too bright.

If I did, I would have learned last week that the sculptor who crafted the controversial "Hunky-Steelworker" statue for the Three Rivers Arts Festival has died at the age of 65 --- the result of a tragic accident in his studio.

A commission on which he was working --- a 30-foot-tall statue of a horse, to be installed at the Denver airport --- fell on top of him.

The artist, Luis Jimenez, who no doubt knew a thing or two about being a minority himself, said at the time he thought that "Hunky" was a term of endearment. Er, well, no. (Especially since the most common modifications of the word "hunky" were "dumb" and "stubborn.")

But it was a common enough term around these parts in the early part of the 20th century, and if art does imitate life, then it should have been allowed to stay on the statue. Or so I thought at the time.

Also, it was probably a bit much to coerce Jimenez into bowdlerizing his word, but Pittsburghers did. He took a chisel to the statue and knocked the word "hunky" off of it. It was a major tempest in a halushki pot back in 1990, and one of the earliest signs that we Picksbergers were becoming a tad hyper-sensitive about our image.

. . .

Finally, remember that River Road grade crossing? Still no answer from CSX. Tonight, I'm going down to check and see if it was repaired. If not, I'm complaining to the state Public Utility Commission.

Tube City Almanac: Art Critic by day, Railroad Crossing Vigilante by night!






Your Comments are Welcome!

It’s a cool statue, and I’m sorry to hear of the artist’s passing.
But how would he have liked it if I made a sculpture titled “Sp**” (insert racist term for Latinos)?
Is it too much to ask that people not use certain words that they know will piss other people off?
Have we all become so callous that we reserve the right to use any word, anytime, regardless of other people’s feelings?
Why is it “hypersensitive” when some people rightly point out that they find a word offensive?
Jonathan Barnes (URL) - June 27, 2006



There’s an important distinction here that needs to be made.

“Hunky” hasn’t been a common ethnic slur for at least 70 years. And I, for instance, don’t face a lot of anti-Hungarian discrimination. I might have in the 1910s or ’20s.

Someone with a name like, oh, say, “Luis Jimenez,” or who looked stereotypically Hispanic (brown skin, dark hair, almond eyes) would have a different life experience —- and that’s one reason why “sp-c” is still not acceptable. That group still faces discrimination on a daily basis.

If discrimination against Hispanics disappears (and we can only hope and work toward that), then 70 years later, I expect that word won’t be as offensive.

So, yes, I’d say Pittsburghers were being hyper-sensitive.
Webmaster (URL) - June 28, 2006



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