Philadelphia, PA – City Council President Darrell L. Clarke (5th District) today issued the following statement in response to the overnight removal of the Rizzo statue:
“The statue of former Mayor Frank Rizzo has been removed from city property in front of the Municipal Services Building.
While welcome news, this action is long overdue.
For too many Philadelphians of color, the Rizzo era was marred by inequality and incidents of police brutality.
Philadelphia has fundamentally changed since then, and the city’s honoring this former mayor’s legacy always seemed inappropriate to me, and offensive to many of our residents.
It is time to look to our future. When the demonstrations over George Floyd’s murder subside and the pandemic eases, we need a New Normal in Philadelphia.
It cannot be the old normal. We need action on the health care disparities that fueled COVID-19 infections in the black community. We need healthier food options for our neighborhoods. We need more affordable housing, living wage jobs, stronger gun laws, more funding for public education, and much stronger accountability of policing in our city.
These problems have plagued black Philadelphians for decades. We must solve them.
Everything must change.”
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