A statue of

Frank Rizzo Francis Lazarro Rizzo (October 23, 1920 – July 16, 1991) was an American police officer and politician. He served as Philadelphia police commissioner from 1968 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He was a member of the Democr ...

, sometimes called the Frank L. Rizzo Monument, was installed in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Erected in 1998, the

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

was removed in June 2020.

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

activists and others protested the statue's presence, and the statue was taken down during the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...

Background

As mayor, Rizzo was a strong opponent of

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

of Philadelphia's schools, and prevented the construction of

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

in majority-white neighborhoods. While running for a third term, Rizzo urged supporters to "Vote White". During his tenure as police commissioner and mayor, the Philadelphia police department engaged in patterns of police brutality, intimidation, coercion, and disregard for

constitutional rights A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may ...

. The patterns of police brutality were documented in a Pulitzer-Prize winning ''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...

'' series by William K. Marimow and

Jon Neuman Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".

History

The statue was placed on its pedestal on December 30, 1998 and unveiled on January 1, 1999. A crowd of 150 listened to speeches by Mayor

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...

. The ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' reported that sculptor Zenos Frudakis had "decided that his monument should be a statue walking toward the people, hand upheld in a greeting." The ''Inquirer'' report did not reference any of the controversy over Rizzo's past.

Controversy and removal

In 2013, following the not-guilty verdict in the death of Trayvon Martin, a sign was hung around the statue's neck with the message, "This system is still racist." The ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' noted that Rizzo "had a poor relationship with Philadelphia's African-American community." Calls for the statue's removal began in 2016, when a group called the Philly Coalition for REAL Justice started an online petition. In August 2017, following the

Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, ...

in Charlottesville, Virginia, the statue was vandalized, kicking off further calls for its removal. The artist behind the statue, Zenos Frudakis, told the ''Tribune'' that he "hesitated to do the work at first" due to Rizzo's past and would accept the statue's removal if the city decided on it. Rizzo statue 2020 01

In November 2017, the city voted to remove the statue. However, the mayor refused to remove the statue, due to the $200,000 expense involved. Following unsuccessful attempts to pull down the statue by protesters, the mayor's office finally ordered the removal of the statue and it was placed into storage in July 2020.

References

{{Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests 1998 establishments in Pennsylvania 1998 sculptures 2020 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Bronze sculptures in Pennsylvania Monuments and memorials in the United States removed during the George Floyd protests Outdoor sculptures in Philadelphia Sculptures of men in Pennsylvania Statues in Philadelphia Statues removed in 2020 Vandalized works of art in Pennsylvania

Background

History

Controversy and removal

See also

References