Move the Monument Coalition, faith leaders and small business leaders have filed a friend of the court brief to show their support for the federal ACLU/NAACP lawsuit calling on the Talbot County Council to remove the Confederate statue from the courthouse lawn.
The amicus brief, filed in federal court in Baltimore Friday, Aug. 20, includes signatures from 14 faith leaders, 18 business leaders from Talbot County and the Move the Monument Coalition, a broad-based grassroots organization.
“It is unique for the court to hear the actual voices directly from the impacted community members,” said Attorney Robbie Leonard of Leonard & McCliggott Law Group in Cockeysville, Md., who filed the amicus brief.
Ridgely Ochs, a member of the Move the Monument Coalition leadership team, hoped the judge would take their filing into account.
“We are not lawyers,” she said. “We are just regular folk who live in Talbot County and we want the judge to understand how we feel about this monument.”
The lawyer representing Talbot County in the lawsuit, Kevin Karpinksi of Karpinski, Cornbrooks & Karp, P.A. in Baltimore, said he did not consent to the filing. The groups strongly objected and filed their brief regardless.
In the brief, Move the Monument Coalition argued that the Confederate statue, erected in 1916 and the last remaining on nonfederal public property in the state, “is a gross misrepresentation of the actual history of Talbot County in the Civil War, reflecting the utter falsehood that only those 82 men fought from this county in that war.”
“Many times more men fought to defend the Union in Talbot County and thus, the statue is not only political but ahistorical in fact. The statue symbolizes the state of public policy of Jim Crow Law more than a century ago, anathema to American society in the 21st Century,” the coalition said.
Business leaders argued that removing the Confederate monument from public property “is Talbot County’s lowest hanging fruit when it comes to lessening the racial disparities evident in its economy.”
“The monument to Confederate soldiers advertises to potential investors, entrepreneurs, tourists, and consumers that Talbot County is more comfortable preserving even its most tangible symptom of structural racism than it is with making the necessary choices to pursue racial equity and economic prosperity,” the business leaders said.
Faith leaders in the county said that “our respective faith traditions call us to imagine a world as seen through the eyes of the divine, and then to use our passion and energy to move toward this vision.”
“Talbot County needs to keep a clear vision of equity in the forefront as it works to assure fair treatment for all. The monument stands in the way of making progress toward this vision,” they said.
Daniel says
Long overdue, it’s time to remove this racist representation and replace it with a mow just statement in front of the Courthouse.
Henry J. Herr says
I am glad that the coalition is endeavoring to bring about a sensible resolution to this issue. Open your eyes and see it for what it is—an intimidating symbol of a bygone era. It has no place in modern society.
Alan Boisvert says
It’s become obvious the squawk-like-a-chicken Talbot County Council wants to maintain and promote their status quo of a racist environment for the county. Not very smart but I suppose that’s their prerogative. Perhaps they should consider also adding a bronzed noose in front of the courthouse as a compliment to themselves. Talbot is an embarrassment to the Great State of Maryland. Very backward thinking. No wonder there has been no increase on population in the past 10 years.
Barb Conner says
Talbot county refrained from removing the statue. End of story. Not a federal issue.
Debbie Jeon says
We shall see what the federal judge hearing the case has to say about that, right?
Richard Mattingley says
Publish the names of the small business owners suing to remove the talbot boys.
Michael Davis says
I run a small business and want the Talbot Boy gone.
Paul Callahan says
I think it interesting that the Move the Monument coalition complain that the memorial “is a gross misrepresentation of the actual history of Talbot County in the Civil War, reflecting the utter falsehood that only those 82 men fought from this county in that war.” but in reality this coalition completely rejected the proposal of a “unity” monument that would have recognize the 300 white and 700 black Talbot Countians that fought for the Union.
The Move the Monument coalition fought against a joint memorial that would recognize all and equitably tell our civil war history but then they make a lack of an equitable memorial a major point of complaint?
Did they brief the judge that Talbot county wanted to create a joint memorial but they, the Move the Monument coalition vehemently opposed it? – No
Why is that?
Michael Davis says
The idea of a joint memorial still ignores the fact that any monument to the Confederacy is racist. Half a monument to the Confederacy is racist. The Confederate flag is a racist symbol. The initials C.S.A. stands for the largest attempt to overthrow our government by traitors and White Supremacists in American history. No one can expect justice in a courthouse half-honoring the traitors and enslavers of the Confederacy. Thousands of years ago the Bible recognized that half a baby is not an adequate solution.
Paul Callahan says
Mike Davis, Could I recommend a actual book on US civil war history written by respectable historians so you don’t have to rely on the SPLC talking points that don’t apply to this monument or to Maryland history?
James McPherson, Shelby Foote, Claudia Floyd, Robert Driver, Lawrence Denton – all good historians none of which agree with the assertions above.
Secondly, why does the MtM group keep claiming it is a “Monument to the Confederacy” when the inscription upon this monument says “To the Talbot Boys” The inspiration is in very large letters and clearly written and I am sure it wasn’t overlook – could this historical truth written in granite be ignored?
If the MtM can ignore something that was written directly in granite so future generations would have no doubt to whom this monument was dedicated, how can this group in any way fairly and equitably describe Talbot’s history to anyone?
It is absolutely clear that those who created this monument recorded for history that this memorial is dedicated to the men of Talbot. If they wanted a monument for the confederacy then it would say “To the confederacy”. It does not say that and is not for that, it says “To the Talbot Boys” and is dedicated to the men of Talbot and not to the confederacy as you and your group continue to claim.
But that truth, recorded in the granite, does not support the agenda so it can not be tolerated and must be changed. A “monument to the confederacy and white supremacy” is far more supportive of the agenda, than a simple war memorial dedicated to men from Talbot.
Why must this history be changed to support the social agenda? Can’t the agenda move forward without changing the history?
Why must a narrative of the most evil, hateful, racist, supremest filled history imaginable where our ancestors were so fully obsessed with degenerating people of color that they were completely incapable of creating any form of simple war memorial or conduct any form of political, economic or social endeavors that wasn’t fully intended to degrade black people?
Why is that?
Henry Herr says
Couple things. So the statue states: “To the Talbot Boys 1861-1865 C.S.A.” So in granite it says Confederate States of America. The topper has a man holding the Confederate flag. Let’s not pretend the statue doesn’t include any iconography to the Confederacy.
Also you contend that the statue was a war memorial dedicated to the men of Talbot. But that’s simply not true. Franklin Buchanan was born in Baltimore and didn’t live in Talbot County until after the Civil War. His name is prominently on the statue.
Since you’ve asked questions regarding Mtm and what they stand for, might I ask why the “Preserve Talbot History” group either doesn’t know who is on the statue or it’s full history? Does the PTH group have any historians asserting that this statue should stay on courthouse grounds? (For the record, Mtm has multiple published historians who contest that the Talbot Boys statue should be moved.)