Published: 20:29 BST, 6 August 2021 | Updated: 15:22 BST, 7 August 2021Įstella Cattarossi, 7, was killed when the Champlain Towers South collapsed on June 24 Arango placed his fireman's jacket over his deceased daughter before putting a miniature American flag on the gurney as her body was wheeled away.
“So much of the culture was ingrained into the city. “It had to do with the lack of racial equity of what is harmful and hurtful to other people,” Grant said. But he acknowledged that it was an unfortunate decision given Florida's history as a Confederate state, as well as the city's history of segregation involving Black and Caribbean populations dating to the 1920s. Grant said the mural’s change was meant to make people’s faces unrecognizable, similar to how people are depicted on Google Maps. “We haven’t gotten a clear answer as to who did it or why they did it.” “We’ve got people pointing the fingers at each other,” Schofield said. The lawsuit said she had approved how she would look in the mural before her complexion was altered. Schofield said it is still a mystery whose decision it was to depict Clemons as white. The public arts manager was fired, and the fire chief resigned, Grant said. Two city employees, the public arts manager and the fire chief, lost their jobs. After the unveiling in the summer of 2020, the city manager public apologized to both Clemons and Joseph. Grant said the updated mural did not depict Joseph, at his request. "It took her back to what she is - a black woman,” Schofield said.
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The new version accurately reflected Clemons' skin tone. Schofield said the city fixed the mural and hung it back up in November. His face was also replaced by a white face. The mural, which was supposed to highlight the history of firefighters in the city, was also to have featured the image of Glenn Joseph, a Black former fire chief. She rose through the ranks to the positions of lieutenant, captain and battalion chief. "Growing up in the community where I grew up, you didn't see Blacks, particularly Black women, in the fire department."Īccording to her lawsuit, Clemons, who was hired in 1996, was the first Black woman in the department. "I had to suppress my emotions, but after the event a ton of emotions came over me," Clemons said last year. Clemons looks forward to putting this very hurtful event behind her and is hopeful that the City, through its commission members, will make the right decisions to allow her to do so," Schofield said in an emailed statement about the potential settlement.Ĭlemons said last year that she did not attend the mural dedication but that shortly after the ceremony, she began getting a flood of photos and texts from friends and colleagues. She referred questions to her attorney, Arthur Schofield. Grant, who said he was not sure how the four other commissioners will vote, said, “I’m in favor of it.”Ĭlemons declined to comment Wednesday.
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