Dear Ms. Price,
In response to your letter to the Star Democrat on February 3, 2021, the Move the Monument Coalition appreciates your willingness to engage in conversation to find a path forward on the future of the Confederate monument on Talbot County’s courthouse lawn. We have consistently sought to engage the Council, individually and as a whole, and continue to seek opportunities for constructive engagement.
Although we too seek unity, the basis for unity must be a truthful understanding of the context and meaning of the Talbot Boys Confederate statue. We believe the starting point is an understanding of the historical context of its erection, what the Confederate flag stands for today, and an examination and reconciliation of the history of racial injustice in Talbot County. In addition, the voices of African American residents must be elevated and play a central role in this discussion.
- The cornerstone of the Confederacy was to maintain the right to own slaves and overthrow the US government to that end. In his Cornerstone Speech on March 21, 1861, Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens said:
[I]ts foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery—subordination to the superior race—is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.
Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution of the Confederate States dated March 11, 1861 states:
The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States; and shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of this Confederacy, with their slaves and other property; and the right of property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired.
- The Talbot Boys Confederate statue was erected as part of the Lost Cause, a movement to assert a romanticized version of the Confederacy that holds its role in the Civil War was a just and heroic one fought by honorable Christian men to save the Southern way of life and states’ rights and completely denies the central role of slavery and white supremacy as its cornerstone.
- Context is everything. The Talbot Boys Confederate statue was dedicated in 1916, 51 years after the Civil War, at the height of Jim Crow racial segregation. This was part of a spike in Confederate memorials during the early 1900s, soon after Southern states enacted a number of sweeping laws to disenfranchise Black Americans and segregate society. More than 400 monuments were erected in this period as part of an organized strategy, spearheaded by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), to reshape Civil War history. “Their goal, in all the work they did, was to prepare future generations of white Southerners to respect and defend the principles of the Confederacy.” * They rejected any school textbook that said slavery was the central cause of the Civil War, they praised the Ku Klux Klan and gave speeches that distorted the cruelty of American slavery and defended slave owners. (*From Dixie’s Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture by Karen Cox, University of Florida 2003.)
- An examination of Talbot County history must include the history of the experience of African Americans, including slavery, Jim Crow segregation, attempted lynchings, racial terror and discrimination. This issue must be viewed first and foremost from the viewpoint of the African American citizens of Talbot County, many of whom are descendants of people who were enslaved and even after being freed, suffered under racial oppression.
- The Talbot Boys Confederate monument must be viewed in today’s context. The Confederate flag is a clear symbol of white supremacy as it featured prominently in 2015 when Dylan Roof murdered nine Black parishioners, in 2017 in the Charlottesville white supremacist rally, and the January 6 insurrection.
Finally, we agree that the Talbot Boys Confederate statue has historical value. It should be moved to a place where historians can place it in context like a museum. But it should not be on the grounds of the Talbot County Courthouse where justice is meted out.
We agree that education of our community on this issue is important. To that end, we invite folks to attend our virtual Zoom event on February 25 at 7:00 p.m. on the Lost Cause. To register, click this link.
Denice Lombard
Move the Monument Coalition
Paul says
Well written but you are arguing why the South seceded and why some or many monuments were constructed throughout the Nation. The issue at hand is why Maryland men fought and this one individual monument.
You also failed to mention that the US Constitution equally protected slavery or that in April of 1861 Mr. Lincoln was promoting an amendment to the US Constitution that forever protected slavery.
The name of the Preserve Talbot History speaks for itself. That coalition does not represent anything other then Maryland history, nor do they speak of any other monument than the one which we have. This is about Talbot county and Maryland.
Mr. Stephen’s, of which you quote, was from South Carolina, a totally different State with its own reasons for what they did.
It is totally impossible to resolve the entire civil war conflict and equally impossible to resolve the entire National debate over all the monuments, at our community level – it would be fruitless.
To assign blame to Talbot’s ancestors for what someone else said from another far away State is unjust to both our ancestors and the experience of Marylanders of that time.
It would be equally unjust to blame Talbot county citizens or our ancestors for the abhorrent policies and laws generated at the Federal level. As Ibram X Kendi states – don’t blame the people for bad government policies.
The coalition has also uncovered very specific historical documents that tells exactly why the Talbot Boys was built and its theme. It is directly opposite of the narrative you are furthering.
So to move forward, and per the advice of The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the recommendations of many, to include Dr. Graham in his recent presentation for the CBMM, we first must realize that all monuments are not the same or intended for the same purpose. The monuments must be evaluated individually and with the inclusion of ALL groups within the community.
Please visit http://www.preservetalbithistory.org to read historical documents from that time for yourself. Check back often, it is updated almost daily.
Henry Herr says
Mr. Callahan. Please do some research on who you quote. The National Trust for Historic Preservation calls for the removal of all public Confederate monuments. https://savingplaces.org/press-center/media-resources/national-trust-statement-on-confederate-memorials#.YCQHDt9Ok0M Dr. Kendri also calls for their removal.
Paul says
Henry, From the link in your post, concerning the position of the National Historic Trust: “We recognize that not all monuments are the same, and a number of communities have carefully and methodically determined that some monuments should be removed and others retained”. The key here is “communities” as in ALL of us and “carefully” which is exactly what the PTH is doing by extensive historical research.
You also misquoted Ibram Kendi, you were referring to when he was in Richmond and was asked about the monuments on monument ave, He said he personally would like to see them removed. Ibram was talking about those statues to Lee, Jackson and so on in Richmond not Talbot’s monument which are to the Talbot men themselves.
But you missed the point entirely Ibram states that you don’t judge an entire group by the actions of an individual- which was what you were doing
Henry Herr says
Again you are mistaken. Kendi wants them all removed, see: https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/ibram-x-kendi-keynote-%E2%80%9C-unloaded-guns-racial-violence%E2%80%9D Furthermore the statement you are non-contextuallizing states, “We recognize that not all monuments are the same, and a number of communities have carefully and methodically determined that some monuments should be removed and others retained but contextualized with educational markers or other monuments designed to counter the false narrative and racist ideology that they represent, providing a deeper understanding of their message and their purpose.” They state the monuments are racist. You are mischaracterizing people’s words to try to fit your narrative.
Connie Lauffer says
Context and factual history so well stated.
Thank you, Denice!
It time, no, it’s way past time for the statue to be moved.
Mary Dunlavey says
Wonderful info . Thank -you!
Move It! Let’s preserve history elsewhere.
James Brennan says
The Talbot Boys monument is not a civil war monument. It does not depict the bravery or sacrifice made by the many White and Black soldiers from Maryland who fought defending the Union from the treasonous Confederate rebellion. The Talbot Boys monument was built to reinforce notions of racism and white supremacy in 1916. That is the message it delivers then and now. Just because it was erected a hundred years ago does not make it an appropriate display on our County courthouse grounds.
All monuments are certainly not the same. The ones cherished by citizens of the United States commemorate heroes who fought to defend the rights and freedoms our Democracy provides. The Talbot Boys monument is a despicable symbol of ignorance and injustice and it doesn’t belong on the lawn of a democratically elected government office building where all people are treated fairly and equally.
I can’t think of a public place where the statue does belong. At least not in United States.