And now, this from our dear friend Christine Flowers:
Message to Jim Kenney, Helen Gym and the rest of them...
It’s not over, Mayor Kenney.
It’s not over, Councilwoman Gym.
It’s not over, Black Lives Matter.
It’s not over, Philadelphia.
A decision was made this afternoon to remove the statute of former mayor Frank Rizzo from Paine Plaza, where it has rested peacefully for years. Hizzoner greeted us, hand upraised and outstretched as we went about our daily business, walking, riding by in buses, biking around City Hall. Few took notice, not even the birds who wouldn’t dare perch on Rizzo’s broad shoulders. Respect must be paid, after all.
Except this administration doesn’t know the meaning of that word, “rispetto” in the Italian of Rizzo’s immigrant ancestors. To this group of men and women, huddled safely in their pristine offices and insulated from the real world by layers of social “tolerance,” respect is a one way street. And here is the message being sent:
“We do not respect you, citizens of that “other” Philadelphia, the one that pushes back against the forced enlightenment of the elites. You, the ones who stupidly insist on finding value in old traditions and historical narratives, who always knew that Black Lives Mattered and didn’t need to have the message shoved down your throats, the rough-edged, dipthong-challenged natives who don’t go looking for fights, but will damn well not back away from them, you don’t matter.
Now, it’s all about “tolerance.” Except, you will not be tolerated unless you agree that Rizzo was racist who should be shunned and hidden, with the subliminal message that if you found value in his legacy, you are bigoted too. You, Philadelphians of a certain time, look, manner, spirit and ilk, you are an embarrassment to us, like that hulking statue in the plaza.
So we don’t really care what you think, what you write, what you’ve told us in your emails (you actually can use social media!) your phone calls, your letters to the editor, and your rallies. We tricked you into delaying one of your rallies by leading you to believe that we would consider your legitimate concerns about moving the statue.
You are rally fools, to have believed we cared.”
This administration and its cabal of the uber-tolerant have created a battlefield with no true reason for battle. That statue might have annoyed some Philadelphians, but there were many others, legions, who were happy to see it there in its comforting spot. Unlike nooses and swastikas and white sheets, things that have no context other than a viral hatred that must be extinguished, Frank Rizzo’s image was benign to those who have some sense of time, place and history.
Yes, he was hated by many because of his sharp ways during times of civil unrest. He angered many of those in minority communities, racial and those in the nascent “gayborhood,” with his impatience and conviction that law and order were supreme virtues, and his failure to move with sensitivity through those roiling social waters.
He could be a bully, yes.
His footsteps were often heavy, and some were angered by the sound they made crashing through their streets.
But he was also a great man, a man of purpose and presence and character, a man who had many friends from those selfsame “threatened” communities. He was larger than life, larger even than that statue which is now targeted for removal.
And he is history, our history, the history of our city.
So Mayor Kenney, this is not over.
We who do not agree that hiding history is the way to deal with its repercussions will fight you on this.
The manner is not yet clear, nor is the outcome.
But we will not go gentle into that good, dark, Philadelphia night without a fight.
We’re Philadelphians, after all. You of all people, son of South Philly, should get it. And if you don’t we will try and explain it with a bit more clarity.
Consideration of that other statue, the one at the base of the Art Museum, might help.
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