Unlike most important governmental decisions that demand compromise, the issue of keeping the Talbot’s Confederate monument where it stands or removing it, I believe, cannot be solved by compromise. As far as I understand physics, it is not possible to “partially remove” a monument. It either stays or it goes; there’s no in-between.
Many of Talbot County’s citizens, as well as some members of the Talbot County Council, have searched and continue to search for creative ways to solve this problem. They hope to find some middle ground that would be not totally acceptable to either side, but would be something that both sides could eventually live with. It is a noble venture, but I don’t think it will ever happen. Why? Because I believe this is a moral issue of right and wrong, and in matters of right and wrong, I’m afraid, there are no gray areas in between. The fact that a previous council would only approve a statue of Frederick Douglass, its most famous son, if it were no taller than the Confederate statue nearby, (clearly that county council’s attempt at compromise), speaks volumes.
Here is my moral argument: If this monument, a “Lost Cause” symbol of the Confederate states’ attempt to leave the Union and to protect their privileged white citizens’ right to own slaves, were located in a park, in a cemetery, or on a museum’s grounds, I don’t believe there would be the strong desire from citizens to have it removed. But it is at the entrance to a house of justice that makes it for many an object of hypocrisy and shame! History has made it clear that there was no justice in the South during its two-hundred plus years of slavery for the majority of its population, and sadly, there continues to be little justice for Black citizens from the end of the Civil War until today. That is one of the reasons for the Black Lives Matter movement that we are witnessing now.
Most of us who want the monument removed have come to this decision mainly because of where the monument is located. If council members could find it a home somewhere else in the county, we would be satisfied. We don’t want it to be destroyed and we don’t want to erase history as many have claimed; we just want it moved elsewhere! For me, one solution would be to move it to the Talbot County Historical Society’s garden where the appropriate historical plaques, written by respected historians, would surround it, so that it could be an educational tool for young students studying that period of American history. This is exactly what many cities in the South, including Richmond, Charleston, Atlanta, and Savannah, have chosen to do with their Confederate statues in order to help further educate their visitors as well as their own citizens.
I realize this is not an easy decision or a popular one for many of Talbot County citizens, but I feel moving it from the court house grounds is the only answer that makes sense. Ultimately, this needs to be understood by our elected county leaders and for them to act. No one else can move it for them.
Jim Richardson
Claiborne
Louise Perry says
I agree 100%.
JT Smith says
Well said. Nothing more needs be said.
Sheilah Egan says
I was very pleased to read this succinct and straightforward letter. I hope others will recognize his plea for doing the “moral” thing and move the statue.
Jeff Staley says
Well said. I agree.
Barbara Perry says
Excellent letter and a great idea. No one I know wants it destroyed either. Museums, battlefields and cemeteries are the perfect places for monuments like this one.
kath nilsen says
clearly stated reasonable solution. much better place for it.
Ken Kirby says
A well reasoned point of view that many would support.
Laura Zagon says
Perfectly and sensibly stated. Somebody should listen. Anybody.
paul callahan says
I would fully agree if the monument said “To the Confederate States of America” but it does not… It says “To the Talbot Boys”, which makes it a monument to the men of Talbot County, many of which died and all suffered for a strong conviction. If there was any rational evidence that these men were motivated to prolong slavery I also would agree to have it moved elsewhere. But that is not the case, there was an incredible Constitutional Crisis within Maryland by the government against the people of Maryland. They witnessed first hand what they saw as tyranny against a free State. The evidence is overwhelming that this is why these men rose. Symbols of the confederacy have become symbols of racism and should not be displayed. However this history needs to be preserved and told. These men’s actions, considering what was happening to Maryland and Talbot would not be considered dishonorable…. particularly if they were judged by our Founding Fathers who took great pains in an attempt to create a Federal Government that would not abuse its citizens.