After complaint, Geno's Steaks owner removes offensive Confederate sticker
As U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham called for his home state to remove the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina statehouse in the wake of a racially motivated shooting, a city resident says he wants a Confederate flag-themed sticker removed from a South Philadelphia legend’s motorcycle.
Hours after a South Philadelphia resident voiced concerns over a Confederate-flag themed sticker, visible on the displayed motorcycle built for the legendary Geno's Steaks founder, the sticker was removed.
The neon-orange Harley Davidson made for Joey Vento, the late proprietor of the legendary steak shop and who had the rebel flag tatooed on his forearm, was enshrined in a display window across the street from the popular eatery. The motorcycle beared a Confederate flag decal and the words "Ain't Scared" on its battery cover.
Phil Dahl contacted Philly.com Monday afternoon about the motorcycle in the wake of the Charleston, South Carolina, shooting, in which a white gunman targeted and killed nine African-American parishioners at a prominent church. Dahl said that while the decal could easily be missed by the occasional tourist, it is what the flag represents — a government that fought to preserve the institution of slavery — that couldn't be ignored.
"I've walked passed this monstrosity for four years now, and I just can't believe no one has said anything about it," said Dahl. "Maybe that says something about our own perceptions and blind spots to these sorts of things."
A few hours after a story about Dahl's concerns appeared on the news website, Geno Vento, Joey Vento’s son and the shop's current owner, issued a statement. After noting that the custom-made motorcycle was part of a memorial to his late father, and admitting he didn't agree with his father's politics but nonetheless respects and loves his elder, Geno Vento said the sticker is no longer in public view.
"We all have family who we don’t see eye to eye with, we can’t change the fact that we are family. Like all father [and] sons we had different opinions and views. What we can do is learn and make progress from this," Vento said. "The offending image has been removed from the public view."
The sticker was scraped from the battery cover, and the motorcycle was rotated 180 degrees.
Dahl raised his complaints shortly after U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham called for his home state to remove the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina statehouse in the wake of the racially-motivated shooting.
Vento said in the statement that he understands that any object bearing a Confederate symbol will be "under the microscope" as the nation grieves over the Charleston attack.
"However, do not let my father's personal belongings cloud your judgment on who I am and how [I] represent the business," Vento said. "The space where the motorcycle rests is a personal storage space for my father's personal belongings, completely separate from the restaurant and not open to the public."
Vento said he believes suggestions made nationally this afternoon, that the Confederate battle flag be preserved in a museum, is the same approach he took in South Philadelphia.
"That is exactly what we did by preserving my dad's personal memories in a separate location outside of the business," Vento said.
Geno’s Steaks is well-known for its garish decor — neon flames underscore a giant, poorly lit photo of a cheesesteak on the building’s facade — and the controversy surrounding a sign posted by Vento demanding customers order in English. The former owner’s dying wish was that the sign remain, despite many in the increasingly diverse neighborhood who took offense to the sign’s message.
Dahl said he didn’t think there was any legitimate reason to display the flag in a diverse, Northern city.
“I think it’s important to say that it was only truly made popular by its use with the Ku Klux Klan and was only Virginia’s battle flag under Robert E. Lee. So it’s not even in consideration for the actual history of the [Confederacy],” he said.