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Frank Rizzo Jr. to Newsmax: 'My Dad Was a Friend to People of All Races'

Frank Rizzo Jr. to Newsmax: 'My Dad Was a Friend to People of All Races'
Eagles fans walk by police and a statue of Frank Rizzo, former mayor of Philadelphia, before festivities begin on February 8, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Corey Perrine/Getty Images)

John Gizzi By Sunday, 07 June 2020 02:19 PM EDT Current | Bio | Archive

One of the unexpected results of last week’s protest marches in Philadelphia was the removal of the statue of the late Police Commissioner and two-term Democratic Mayor Frank Rizzo from downtown.

Rizzo’s statue, current Democratic Mayor James Kenney wrote on Twitter, "represented bigotry, hatred and oppression for too many people, for too long." (On Sunday, the city-run Mural Arts Philadelphia painted over in white a mural of Rizzo in The Italian Market at 9th and Montrose Streets).

Kenney was referring to the image of racism that dogged Rizzo from his days facing racially-charged riots in Philadelphia during the 1960’s — something family members as well as people who knew the late policeman-mayor well insisted to Newsmax was totally unfair.

"My Dad was a friend to people of all races," Frank Rizzo, Jr., son of the late mayor and himself a former Philadelphia city councilman, told us.

Known as "the toughest cop in America" during his years at the helm of the Philadelphia police, the 6-foot-3-inch, 250-pound Rizzo deployed no nonsense law and order tactics as his and other major cities were enflamed by race riots in the 1960’s.

In contrast to such sites of urban warfare as Detroit and Newark, New Jersey, Sal Paolantonio wrote in his critically acclaimed biography of Rizzo, "[I]n the summer of 1967, Philadelphia did not burn."

According to Frank, Jr., "Dad was aggressive in protecting the city of Philadelphia, but he was no racist. He didn’t see people in terms of black or white but whether they were law abiders or lawbreakers."

The younger Rizzo recalled how the late heavyweight champ Joe Frazier, who was black, was a close friend of his father and backed him in all his races for mayor.

"And how could a racist have two black cops as his bodyguards — the guys who were around him the most?" he added, noting that Officers Tony Fulwood and James Turner guarded Mayor Rizzo throughout his eight years as mayor (1971-79).

The elder Rizzo hated the charges of bigotry, and frequently recalled how as a young Italian-American policeman, he had been called derogatory names such as "Dago" within the police department. As commissioner, he increased the number of black officers on the force.

"In the summer of 1966, when a black family moved into all-white Kensington [a Philadelphia neighborhood]," wrote biographer Paolantonio, "[Commissioner] Rizzo personally went to the neighborhood to observe the police officers sent there to protect the family."

On June 12, 1969, Rizzo left a black-tie dinner wearing his tuxedo and arrived at the Tasker Homes public housing project amid reports that white youths were throwing rocks at the windows of the predominantly black residences. A photo that was seen round the world showed the tuxedo-clad Rizzo arriving with a nightstick tucked in his cummerbund.

But, to be sure, Rizzo was a product of his times and circumstances. Worried about the rise in black militancy and groups such as the Black Panthers, Rizzo oversaw a heavy-handed response to protests involving blacks.

On November 18, 1967, more than 3,000 black students arrived at the city’s Board of Education demanding public schools provide black history, teaching Swahili as a language, and amending the dress codes to permit wearing of dashikis. At one point, some students began throwing rocks and Rizzo ordered police to "Get their black asses!"—something WFIL-TV filmed and which would haunt the commissioner.

As mayor in 1978, Rizzo sought to amend the city charter to permit him to seek a third term the following year. On September 21 of that year, he said he was sick and tired of opponents urging blacks to "vote black" and declared: "I say vote white, and blacks that think like me — and there’s a lot of them —should also vote for Rizzo."

"They would be two words that would stick with Frank Rizzo forever," wrote Paolantonio, "It didn’t matter that he really did not mean what the words indicated. He had said them. Vote White. And to the black community, that’s all they would or could mean."

By 1991, Rizzo was a Republican and running for his old job. Pollster John McLaughlin signed on to his campaign and, as he told Newsmax, "I felt Frank was running precisely to exorcise those old ghosts, such as the racist charge."

With McLaughlin’s polls showing crime and drugs were among the biggest concerns of voters, TV spots showed Rizzo declaring: "When I’m mayor, this city will be safe again."

By the summer of that year, McLaughlin’s polls showed nearly a third of the city’s black voters would not support Democratic nominee and Philadelphia District Attorney Ed Rendell (who had beaten three primary opponents who were black) under any circumstances. Incredibly, the same poll, McLaughlin said, "showed Frank winning 18 per cent of the black vote."

Thrilled at the prospect of being returned to City Hall with strong support from blacks, Rizzo was speaking tirelessly in black churches and marching in primarily black anti-drug parades.

But it was not to be. On July 16, at age 70, Rizzo died of a heart attack. More than 2,000 mourners gathered for the High Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul and the funeral procession — including 300 police cars — was Philadelphia’s largest in a century.

"On Broad Street, thousands of people stood in the hot noon sun," wrote Paolantonio, "A few blocks north, a black couple held a sign that said: ‘Thank you, Frank.’"

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
 

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John-Gizzi
One of the unexpected results of last week's protest marches in Philadelphia was the removal of the statue of the late Police Commissioner and two-term Democratic Mayor Frank Rizzo from downtown....
frank rizzo, mayor, philadelphia
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2020-19-07
Sunday, 07 June 2020 02:19 PM
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