When are they going to take down that racist William Penn statue, currently atop the Philadelphia City Hall?
Posted on 06/03/2020 5:36:51 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
Philadelphia officials removed a statue honoring the late former Mayor Frank Rizzo overnight, a decision the city's current mayor said was meant to acknowledge Rizzo's mistreatment of African-American and LGBT communities during his controversial tenure in office.
Rizzo, who served two terms as mayor in the 1970s after three years as the city's police commissioner, left a legacy of racism and homophobia in his wake. In recent days, the statue honoring him in front of city hall had become a target of those protesting police brutality after the murder of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who killed while in police custody earlier this month.
Mayor Jim Kenney (D) had promised to take down the statue over the course of the next few months. In a statement early Wednesday, Kenney said he had made a mistake, acknowledging the symbol the statue had become for black Philadelphians.
"The continued display of the statue has understandably enraged and hurt many Philadelphians, including those protesting the heinous murders of George Floyd and too many others. I have seen and heard their anguish. This statue now no longer stands in front of a building that serves all Philadelphians," Kenney said.
"The statue is a deplorable monument to racism, bigotry, and police brutality for members of the Black community, the LGBTQ community, and many others. The treatment of these communities under Mr. Rizzo’s leadership was among the worst periods in Philadelphia’s history," he said. "The battle for equal rights and justice is still being fought decades later, and our city is still working to erase that legacy. We now need to work for true equity for all Philadelphia residents, and toward healing our communities. The removal of this statue today is but a small step in that process."
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Let’s see Kate Smith,Frank Rizzo, can Betsy Ross be far behind.
I’m still posses about Kate Smith’s statue. Took her statue down in the dark of night too.
Of course!
Well they did go after the memorial for the black Union Army civil war troops located in Boston.
Sort of like a piñata at a birthday party.
And the Liberty Bell...
Well, they were warned....
‘Lucky’ that Goode was the Mayor, no telling what the ‘Africa’ family etal AND the country would have done had Rizzo been still in office.
It is ‘surprising’ that there is a Rizzo statue tho, I guess he was ‘sort of’ the Bull Connor/Lester Maddox of the Philly area...
Definitely no nonsense when it came to certain situations.
I think that ‘Africa’ family was ‘founded’ in part because of Rizzo and his ‘ilk’....<: <: <:
And he was elected by the citizens of Philadelphia to become the mayor. A lot of the voters in Philadelphia are African Americans, so that says a lot about what people felt at the time.
Saw that. 54 Mass. Black regiment. Reg. The movie Glory was based on.
Democrats purging their own public history by removing Democrat monuments.
Not really. At least no more than 5%.
Philly ping!
Soon as they think about it, FRiend, as soon as they think about it.
Frank Rizzo was a great chief of police and mayor. He was a “good” democrat and a gift to the city of Philadelphia. He took no crap from hoodlums.
Africanization is destroying American cities
any stats available comparing his reign to that of other dems since then?
he moved from dem after 1986 and ran as a repub.
in his time, he took after the Black Panthers and MOVE.. eventually lost a run for third term to the city’s first black mayor.
How is there is a junior in high school On Osage Avenue when It went down it was pretty shocking
That station back then was amazing. I left Philadelphia in 1994. My family's roots there went back to 1734. Not a single family member stayed. We all left between 1994 and 1998. Carolinas, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee. See a trend there?
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