Were I the Confederate soldier portrayed in life size atop a pedestal in front of Talbot County Courthouse, looking out on the world as it today, I just might say: “Tear me down. Move me somewhere else. I serve no value here. I am viewed as a traitor to my country. By what I represent, I am a divider. Birds might like me. People with consciences and sense of equity do not.”
The Talbot Boys Monument, which contains the names of 84 Confederate veterans of the Civil War, was conceived and funded by people who intended to glorify troops who fought to preserve slavery and gloss over the nefarious institution that defined the South and stained America.
It is not really history. Instead, it is “spin,’ designed to terrorize African-Americans who had the temerity to believe our nation actually stood for freedom and equality after the Civil War. They were right about our values in 1916, when the statue was dedicated. They are right now.
Those who have blocked blacks from achieving equal status and well-deserved respect must face facts:
Understandably rocked by the brutal and unnecessary killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police on May 25, 2020, black and white citizens are now saying that enough is enough. Senseless, bigoted violence must stop. Police officers who fail to act in a restrained manner must be held accountable.
Removal of the Talbot Boys Monument from public space and the implied endorsement of the “Lost Cause” by Talbot County government and citizens can wait no longer. Vision of an incremental approach, such as display of an interpretive plaque explaining the destructive and subversive effect of secession, no longer would satisfy this writer.
The Confederate cause was propelled by belief in the sanctity of slavery. “Negroes” were second-class citizens whose rightful place in society was to serve white masters and relinquish their humanity.
The tide has turned.
A monument, like others in the South, evokes hostility and hatred on a public square. It serves no useful purpose. White supremacists were wrong in 1914 when construction of the Talbot Boys statue began; their actions belied a generosity of spirit and belief in equality for all. This shameful charade must come to a humane stop.
A statement released last week by the National Trust for Historic Preservation said, “We believe it is past time for us, as a nation, to acknowledge that these symbols (Confederate monuments) do not reflect, and are in fact abhorrent to our values and to our foundational obligation to continue building a more perfect union that embodies equality and justice for all.”
Our severely divided and dysfunctional nation cries out for unity. Confederate monuments divide. They stand out as repudiation of decency and oneness. Masters and slaves not only are archaic; they are anathema to the values that should undergird our democracy.
Skin color is not a penal sentence to invisibility and mistreatment.
It can’t be. Otherwise, we all are destined to be judged and treated based not on our character and personal quality, but on our defining physical and ethnic differences.
Perhaps no one in recent history has been more eloquent and passionate about the overriding need to remove Confederate statues than former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who spoke about their removal in May 2017. He said:
“We have not erased history; we are becoming part of the city’s history by righting the wrong image these monuments represent and crafting a better, more complete future for all our children and for future generations.
“And unlike when these Confederate monuments were first erected as symbols of white supremacy, we now have a chance to create not only new symbols, but to do it together, as one people. In our blessed land we all come to the table of democracy as equals. We have to reaffirm our commitment to the future where each citizen is guaranteed the uniquely American gifts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
These words are powerful ones, beseeching us to be fair and free of irrational hatred and bigotry.
Imagining that I am the Confederate soldier trying to understand our nation as one meant to be unified, not riven by discord and discrimination, I would consider that I served bravely but ill-advisedly. I fought to continue subjugating people based solely on their skin color. I didn’t understand that one nation under God elicits a belief in goodness and grace.
The Talbot Boys Monument must be taken now. It should not involve years of dialogue.
We’ve had those discussions. It should be moved, not destroyed.
Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.
Keith Alan Watts, Esq. says
I could not agree more with Howard Freedlander. There is no earthly reason this nation should be defiled by Confederate statues – or the bases on which they stand.
That includes the base of “The Talbot Boys” marked in giant letters “C.S.A.” “Confederate States of America.”
All of it must go. Relocate it. Replace it.
Let the sound you hear tonight after your vote be not cries of anguish over yet another cowardly compromise, but the cries of joy in joining hands with and honoring all — all — who gave their lives not just during the War Between The States — but for the last four hundred years . . . . .
Ask: What would Lincoln do? What would Frederick Douglass do? What would Martin Luther King, Jr. do?
What would Rodney King, George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks do?
Would they leave the base, half of this horror still honored?
I think not.
Do the right thing tonight. All of the right thing . . . .
Carol Crutchfield says
Thank you. I was among the many townspeople who laid flowers on the Frederick Douglas statue. This was a polite way to express our feeling about the Talbot Boys monument. It needs to be safely moved. Maybe it’s supporters could find a good place for its relocation.
Howard Freedlander says
Thank you, Carol. The Talbot Boys statue serves our county poorly. We’re better than what the monument represents.
Howard Freedlander says
Thank you, Keith. The time is now to right a wrong by removing the Talbot Boys statue from public space.
Keith Watts says
Thank you, my friend.
Rick Skinner says
Mr. Freedander is eloquent but firm and straightforward. History is not a static thing: it changes as a result of new findings and artifacts. It changes because the arc of history is not all that different than the life of a human. We too change. And now it is time for us to change. Change will not be comfortable and may be threatening, especially to those of us who are white and therefor privileged in America. We may go to the crematorium or the grave hurt, angry and even alienated. But I suspect our children and their children will wonder what all the controversy was about.
Howard Freedlander says
Thank you, Rick. The time is now to take action to remove a symbol of hatred and bigotry.
Lucy B Miziolek says
I’m totally with you until the end, “it should be moved, not destroyed.” To where would you move it? I think it should be photographed for the history books and recycled or destroyed.
I was totally surprised by that statement at the end of your piece given the strong and courageous statements you made supporting, “righting the wrong images these monuments represent.“ I’m afraid this stance only supports continued dialogue, one you denounce. You confused me with your final thought.
Howard Freedlander says
Thank you, Lucy. I was clear about removal. Options are available for a new location, such as a museum or cemtery.
Doug Davies says
This concept is not new, and visible in much of the former communist states in Europe. I visited Memento Park in Hungary, and contrary to what the confederate sympathizers would say, it in no way “censors” history. This argument is tired, and ill informed at best, what is censored in these unmodified statues is the brutality of slavery, and the persistent racism in America. A Park or Place, not memorial, to the South would be a better way for society to frame the Civil War and it’s short lived (keep in mind popped collars, Fraiser, and the Fast and Furious Franchise all had longer lifespans) rebellion. The park would be able to contextualize the brutality of what they were fighting for, and set history right. Sorry sympathizers, these confederates are no more honorable than any of Americas enemies. Nobody visits the Fallen Monument or Memento Park and think “wow look at these barrel chested brave men” because they are set in a context of their wrongdoings. Unfortunately, our confederate sympathizing neighbors would rather honor these men and statues as-is, leaving context of their brutality to the textbooks. This is at best lazy, and at worst oppression of the worst kind. Would anyone visit the 9/11 memorial and not mention the atrocity that happened there? Would anyone stand for a holocaust memorial that didn’t mention the atrocities of the Nazis? It isn’t ‘different’ or ‘better’ because these men were a part of the union, and that we may have shared some ideologies of America’s founding – it’s worse, and we can never forget it.
As I leave these boards for another extended period of time, I’d offer a book suggestion that may help clarify how the end of the Civil War, and post-Civil Rights America was still racist as hell. “The Color of Law,” by Richard Rothstein lays out a factual account of racism in American housing policy. It would be no stretch to make the link between the government sanctioned segregation in America and these monuments left as reminders of Black’s ‘place’ in America as a long and continuous line of oppression.
Park or no park these monuments stand in defiance of history and white wash our past.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Monument_Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_Park
https://www.amazon.com/Color-Law-Forgotten-Government-Segregated/dp/1631492853
Howard Freedlander says
Thank you, Doug. Another perspective about the future of the removed-Confederate monuments.
Helen M Pritchett says
Howard , Well said !!
Howard Freedlander says
Thank you, Helen. Courthouse green will seem more welcoming without the Confederate monument.