Polarizing statues are back in the news today after more than 200 college students on Monday evening toppled a monument dedicated to fallen Civil War-era soldiers.
On the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill last night, a bronze statue named Silent Sam at 9:20 pm was lassoed, dethroned and sparsely buried in dirt, while gleeful observers roared and applauded.
The university’s chancellor called the action “unlawful.” Only one arrest was made.
News of the Silent Sam vandalism has reignited conversations nationwide around confederate statues and perceived symbols of white supremacy that are erected in plain sight. Philadelphia was not exempt.
In Center City, Philadelphia stands a statue of former Mayor Frank Rizzo, which many have deemed as an unworthy tribute to a racist man who oversaw the brutality of African-Americans.
However, Mr. Rizzo, who served as police commissioner before occupying the big office in City Hall, is not without his admirers.
There are those who see the once-larger-than-life Italian – who was succeeded by the city’s first black mayor – as a hero, a high-school dropout who made it big in local government and was known beyond the city limits. Mr. Rizzo was so polarizing that the headline on his obituary in The New York Times read: Frank Rizzo of Philadelphia Dies at 70; A ‘Hero’ and ‘Villain’.
The Rizzo statue last year was vandalized. And though never has there been an attempted toppling, the sculpture was briefly guarded by police in 2017 due to threats of it following the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. After numerous protests, and even a petition drive, the City of Philadelphia announced in November that the 2,200-pound statue will be removed. The nation took notice.
Nearly a year later, though, Mr. Rizzo’s likeness still stands across from City Hall, and the chatter about its removal, until today, had all but muted.
So, when will it be moved?
In 2020, at best in 2019, the Mayor of Philadelphia said today.
This morning, the mayor told me that the statue’s removal will coincide with the 2020 renovation of Thomas Paine Plaza, an area which precedes a government building.
“It’ll be there for a little bit. Best circumstances would be a year more,” stated Mayor Kenney, a Democrat.
The City still has to make recommendations to the Art Commission about the statue’s future home. But so far, no area or entity has shown any interest in it, the mayor told me.
“I thought South Philly for sure,” Mr. Kenney admitted.
Mr. Rizzo, like Mayor Kenney, was born in South Philadelphia. And on 9th and Montrose Street, there’s a mural of him, which has been vandalized more than once. Mural Arts announced earlier this year that they’re taking suggestions on what to do with the painting.
The mayor said he understands what the Center City statue represents to many people and that the talk of moving Mr. Rizzo began with not wanting to force people to see it when they come to pay their bills.
But Mr. Kenney stated that he doesn’t want to just move it to a random location, and then move it again to its permanent home.
I want to “move it once and get it over with,” the mayor said.
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Photos courtesy of the author.