Racism is one of the most prevalent topics in politics today – and for good reason. The history of the United States is based on racism and creating a system that even today still functions based on the color of one’s’ skin.
So why are we keeping statues and monuments for white men who supported this system? Nationally, the controversial issue of confederate flags and statues of confederate generals continues to rise. The big question is: Is it heritage vs. hate?
During post Civil war era these statutes furthered the idea of white supremacy and establishment the Jim Crow Laws and segregation of blacks. These monuments were not to remember the history, but to hope for a “pure” white future.1 Similar to the confederate statues, there are many other controversial statues or tributes to racist white men. One of these is the Frank Rizzo statue. Frank Rizzo was both police commissioner and mayor of Philadelphia in the span of his career from 1968 – 1980 and he is notorious for his racist and homophobic ideology.
It doesn’t take more than a simple Google search to discover how problematic Rizzo was. There are stories of him in Philadelphia raiding gay clubs and targeting black communities. The only people he liked were either white, police officers, or both, and lest we forget heterosexual.
“The man devoted to zealous enforcement of the law was Frank Rizzo, and his officers were known as Rizzo’s Raiders. As Captain of the Center City district in the 1950s he personally led raids on gay bars, clubs, and coffee houses. “There has to be some controls over degenerates,” he told the Philadelphia Bulletin. Rizzo was promoted to Police Commissioner in 1967, and he was elected Mayor of Philadelphia in 1971.”
He was quoted calling homosexual people “degenerates.” There is also a controversy that occurred while Rizzo was dealing with protesters in 1967, who wanted the Philadelphia Board of Education to offer more classes to K-12 students about African American history. It is alleged from multiple sources that while police commissioner, Rizzo told his fellow policemen to “run over the protestors” and to “Get their black asses,” in reference to the protestors. In addition to that, here are some quotes from people who directly knew or experienced the man that was Frank Rizzo.
• “When we were out there demonstrating, one night he told the motorcycle police to run us over with their motorcycles. I was there.” — Kenneth Salaam, who was 16 and protesting at Girard College in 19653
• “Sandra Fulwood’s late husband, Lt. Anthony Fulwood, was one of the black police officers on Rizzo’s security detail. “Frank Rizzo was like a father to my husband,” she said. “We didn’t see him as a racist. It was racist times, and he just happened to be a mirror of those times.”
• “He was the symbol … of a lot of anger and a lot of anti-black feeling. And he was willing to see his image used in a way that wasn’t pretty.” — Zack Stalberg, then-Daily News reporter3
• “He appealed to race and was able to get a passionate following,” Goode said. “I think Donald Trump is much the same way, in that he appeals to mostly white people who have strong views about African Americans and immigrants.”
What can be concluded from this is that Frank Rizzo is not someone who should be commemorated with grand statues in his honor. Instead, we should remember him as who he was, which was a bigoted racist and homophobe who actively went out of his way to worsen the lives of minorities. In the end, we should take down his statue, as someone as hateful as him is not deserving of a statue. Frank Rizzo was a man who committed many atrocities to minorities and the LGBT community. Philadelphia is the last place that should be honoring such a distasteful man.
Source 2: http://justingero.com/the-50-year-fight-for-lgbt-rights-in-philadelphia/
Source 3: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/philadelphia-statue-legacy-was-frank-rizzo-racist-20170822.html