Another piece of good news relating to statues: the statue of Frank Rizzo, the first Italian American mayor of Philadelphia, will be reappearing in some capacity.
The statue, one of many murdered in 2020 in an effort by intolerant bullies to eradicate all public art depicting people who differ from the norm, used to stand outside the city’s municipal service building. He was damaged by racist vandals before being removed overnight by the cowardly city government in June of 2020. Disgustingly, the acts of vandalism included throwing noodles and gravy at the statue, attempting to set him on fire, and spray-painting the word “fascist,” which is ironic given that the people who did this were the people engaged in a campaign to obliterate from existence all people who differ from the norm.
But I digress.
Yesterday, the city agreed to return the statue to the Frank Rizzo Monument Committee, the organization that had originally created and donated it to the city. Unfortunately, under the terms of the agreement, the committee can only display the statue behind a fence on private property. However, this resolution is at least better than the statue being kept out of sight in storage, and it’s a good thing that Rizzo will be owned and displayed by people who actually like and respect him. Plus, the city will cover the cost of the repairs necessitated by their own cowardice.
A spokesperson for the committee said that they are “delighted with the Art Commission’s approval of the litigation settlement reached with the City’s lawyers. We get the Statue back, immediately, and the City will pay for all repairs. We will determine where it will be placed once repaired, and we are in active negotiations with the Parker Administration on its future location and hope to have an announcement soon.”
Sources: Italian Sons & Daughters of America, We The Italians, CBS News