[5][6] As mayor, Rizzo was a strong opponent of desegregation of Philadelphia's schools, and prevented the construction of public housing in majority-white neighborhoods.

[10][11] The patterns of police brutality were documented in a Pulitzer-Prize winning Philadelphia Inquirer series by William K. Marimow and Jon Neuman.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that sculptor Zenos Frudakis had "decided that his monument should be a statue walking toward the people, hand upheld in a greeting."

[13] In 2013, following the not-guilty verdict in the death of Trayvon Martin, a sign was hung around the statue's neck with the message, "This system is still racist."

[15] In August 2017, following the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the statue was vandalized, kicking off further calls for its removal.