I am writing to suggest that Park City rethink the way that it represents the miners that used to live and work in this town. Please correct me if I am wrong, but we have whitewashed our mining history. The statue in Miner’s Park is that of a stout Caucasian and not a person of Chinese heritage. The majority of the dangerous work carried out in substandard conditions actually fell upon the backs of Chinese immigrants and the statue at Miner’s Park is not representative of this history. I believe that in order to have a healthy relationship with our past we must depict it as accurately as possible and not seek to recreate it in our own image.
The statue reminds me of the sandy blonde haired and blue eyed Jesus that so many in our western society feel more “comfortable” relating to. If Jesus was represented as a middle easterner we would have fewer problems in the world. If the miners that built the wealth and prosperity that we currently benefit from were portrayed accurately it may help us to become a more inclusive, tolerant, and diverse community.
I would like to suggest to the leaders of our community that we honor our past by erecting statues and artwork that depict how things really were, even if they were not always noble and dignified.
Mining conditions were notoriously inhumane at the turn of the century and often immigrants with no voice in the electoral process were brought in and exploited to line the pockets of their Caucasian employers. I do think that we should be proud of our mining history but I also think we have come a long way from the labor conditions of the past and that we could learn even more if we made a choice to confront rather than obscure its legacy.
Respectfully,
Kellen McAffee
Old Town
Theonlykellen's Blog 