The protesters who made their way through Center City on the first day in Philadelphia Mass demonstrations after the murder of George Floyd looked for places to channel their anger.
They came up the statue of Frank L. Rizzo, the late mayor and police superintendent whose legacy captured the style of policing they fought so perfectly that the memorial could be placed there for the occasion. Rizzo supporters had the statue installed in front of the city administration building in 1999. Mayor Jim Kenney ordered it removed in the middle of the night amid widespread protests last June.
A year later, Philadelphia is still grappling with place names and monuments that honor people whose legacy many find offensive – and how to institute a better system of remembrance in the future.
There was another attempt, for example, to rename Taney StreetIt is believed to be named after the US Supreme Court that authored Dred Scott’s racist ruling denying African Americans citizenship rights. Meanwhile, important questions remain unanswered about the two statues that became hot spots last year: the Rizzo statue that keeps the city in a secret location, and the Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plazawhose fate remains in a state court.
Following the protests, the Kenney administration set up a commission to review the current commemorations and formalize a process for future green lighting.
“Whoever visibly reminds the city is important to the mayor,” said Kenney spokesman Kevin Lessard in a statement last week. “The mayor wants more influential Philadelphians of color represented on public monuments.”
Adam Waterbear DePaul, a member of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania Tribal Council, has long hoped for greater awareness of the history and current experiences of the indigenous people in the Philadelphia area.
He didn’t expect such a moment to be triggered by the police murder of an unarmed black in Minneapolis. But since then the nation has been inundated with people who are “curious about us, about indigenous issues, really all human rights issues”.
Consistent controversies in cities across the country have included Renamed Columbus Day to Native American Day – as Kenney did that year – or remove statues of Columbus, who founded slave colonies at the beginning of the genocide of America’s indigenous peoples.
“Of course it came from an incredibly unfortunate circumstance, but it’s great to see social consciousness change in that way,” said DePaul.
” CONTINUE READING: The Rizzo statue disappeared. Philadelphia is still unwrapping its legacy.
The nation has taken no stance on whether governments should get rid of Columbus Day or remove monuments. But it supports the celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day and wants to see more accurate representations of the region’s indigenous communities in education and monuments.
“Every part of Lenape’s history in present life has been incredibly erased, especially here in our eastern forest areas, and everything needs to be brought to greater public awareness through education,” DePaul said. “And it would be great for the city to take part.”
That could mean a physical monument, he said, but only if the city works with the nation to shape the design, “because so many monuments are problematic”.
“They tend to root us in the past,” DePaul said. “You’re promoting the narrative that Lenape and all Native Americans are a people who lived long ago, not a people who today drive and have jobs, have iPhones, and walk under you.”
Such an integrative process is what the Kenney administration aims to achieve with its Landmark and Monument Review Commission. The commission has created a database of 7,000 place names, public art and monuments and is currently developing a process to review commemorations.
The city’s cultural director, Kelly Lee, who leads the effort, was unavailable for an interview, Lessard said.
The commission should be careful not to move too quickly to erase potentially problematic names or monuments, said Ken Lum, co-founder of Philadelphia-based Monument Lab, a “public art and history studio” that promotes “participatory approaches to public engagement and collectives Memory.”
“This has to be done with great sensitivity, as it can be misunderstood as a kind of extreme [political correctness] Project or something, “said Lum, artist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “The exercise could be a very rewarding educational learning time for the city.”
The battle for the statues is not over yet, although the monuments cannot be seen. Attorney George Bochetto has filed lawsuits on behalf of groups angry about the city’s handling of the statues of Rizzo and Columbus.
The Frank L. Rizzo Monument Committee, which raised money to commission the statue, is challenging the Kenney administration’s handling of the removal and attempting to have it returned to them. Bochetto said he knew where the statue was but could not disclose the location due to a confidentiality agreement in federal proceedings.
It is “in an urban warehouse, on a flatbed truck lying prone, damaged somewhere,” he said in an interview.
Bochetto also represents a group suing the city over the Columbus statue. The 145-year-old statue is still on Marconi Plaza in south Philadelphia, but has been wrapped in plywood since last June. With Kenney’s support, the City’s Art Commission and the City’s Historical Commission voted to remove it last year.
” CONTINUE READING: Philly lawmakers and Italian-American groups are suing Mayor Kenney for renaming it Columbus Day
Bochetto accuses city commissions of failing to follow their own rules and procedures when removing statues.
“Both are kangaroo courts,” said Bochetto of the two commissions that sided with Kenney’s government.
The city prepares to remove the Columbus statue as the judicial battle unfolds.
“As these matters creep through the judicial system, the city is laying the groundwork to prepare for the eventual removal of the statue,” Lessard said in a statement. “In addition to meeting any requirements set by the two commissions or the court, the final timing will also depend on the availability of the maintenance team and the execution of the contract process.”
The Rizzo statue still has political weight.
On the campaign trail this year as he seeks a second term, District Attorney Larry Krasner, an advocate for criminal justice reform, has framed his dismissal as evidence of the advancing direction many Philadelphia voters have taken in recent years. Krasner won a major challenge in a landslide last month.
“There is one factor that will be very difficult for anyone to circumvent: the Frank Rizzo statue has disappeared,” he said at the beginning of the campaign. “And that says a lot in the city where Rizzo’s influence continues to this day, but where his shadow gradually disappears over time.”
