Title : Mr. Catto gets memorialized.
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Mr. Catto gets memorialized.
In a way, Philly is a lot like Pyongyang; there are statues and sculptures everywhere. For years the highest man made structure in Philadelphia was a statue of William Penn. The most controversial one these days is that of former Mayor, Frank Rizzo, who many black folks in the city believe was a flat our racist. That's up for debate, because I have met black folks here in Philly who liked the former police chief as well. Still, having his statute in a very high profile place in our city has drawn protest of late.
I am writing about statues tonight, because Philadelphia made some news today by unveiling the statue of a man named Octavius Catto. He is a man who I must confess that I didn't know much about until the movement to place his stature outside of City Hall started picking up steam. What I learned about the man was fascinating and inspirational, and if anyone deserves to be memorialized in such a way it's Mr. Catto.
I know that we have been removing statues these days, but let's face it, those statues needed removing. Those people became famous and influential for all the wrong reasons. We can't say that about Mr. Catto.
"Octavius Valentine Catto (February 22, 1839 – October 10, 1871) was a black educator, intellectual, and civil rights activist in Philadelphia. He became principal of male students at the Institute for Colored Youth, where he had also been educated. Born free in Charleston, South Carolina, in a prominent mixed-race family, he moved north as a boy with his family. He became educated and served as a teacher, becoming active in civil rights. As a man, he also became known as a top cricket and baseball player in 19th-century Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Catto became a martyr to racism, as he was shot and killed in election-day violence in Philadelphia, where ethnic Irish of the Democratic Party, which was anti-Reconstruction and had opposed black suffrage, attacked black men to prevent their voting for Republican candidates. "Ironically, it was Philly's now Irish American Mayor who worked tirelessly for years to get the statue of Catto placed outside of City Hall. That is one small step for progress.
Statues can't take steps, but they are significant and instructive when it comes to where we are as a country.
Thus articles Mr. Catto gets memorialized.
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