UPDATE: At the advice of the county health officer, the Talbot County Council has closed its meetings to the public. Members of the public will not be allowed to attend in person. Information on how to view the meeting virtually or listen by phone is at the end of this story.
A proposal to remove the statue of a rebel flagbearer from a monument on the courthouse green will be up for public comment Tuesday night.
The public hearing on Resolution 290 — set for 6:30 p.m. July 28 in the Talbot County Council chambers — largely will be virtual. The council chamber is limited to 10 audience members to ensure social distancing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Concerns about the coronavirus — with cases dramatically increasing in Talbot County in the past three weeks — scuttled the original plan to hold the public hearing in the Talbot County Auditorium at Easton High School.
Resolution 290 — introduced by Council President Corey Pack and Councilman Pete Lesher — calls for the removal of the statue of a young man carrying a rebel battle flag atop the monument base listing the names of Talbot County men who went to war against the United States.
The resolution also would prohibit “new statues depicting persons, signs, or symbols associated with military action … on County-owned property” and calls for new monuments to focus on “the names of those American servicemen and women who served in the conflict.”
It also makes it clear that the prohibition “does not apply to the statue of Frederick Douglass, who is remembered for his contributions to civil society. ”
Resolution 290The resolution was proposed by Pack; Lesher joined him in its introduction but said he would seek to amend it to remove the entire Talbot Boys monument.
Pack, who previously has voted against the removal of the monument, changed his mind after the May 25 death of George Floyd and ensuing protests against racism in the U.S. Floyd, a Black man accused of passing a counterfeit $20, died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
In addition to Pack, two other council members, Laura Price and Chuck Callahan, previously have voted against removing the Confederate monument. Lesher and Councilman Frank Divilio are both in their first terms on the county council and have not voted on the issue.
Divilio, during the council’s June 23 meeting, suggested a unity statue that would list the names of Union and rebel soldiers from Talbot County, with a statue depicting soldiers from each side.
His proposal is modeled after the Civil War monument in Chestertown, which lists the names of soldiers from both sides, and the state of Maryland monument at Gettysburg, which shows a wounded Union soldier and a wounded rebel soldier helping each other on the battlefield.
Tuesday’s council meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Bradley Meeting Room in the south wing of the Talbot County Courthouse. The 10 available seats will be available on a first-come basis and face masks must be worn at all times inside the council chambers unless addressing the council.
To view the meeting virtually:
- Go to www.talbotcountymd.gov, click on the picture of the Talbot County Council on the bottom left hand corner of the page and you will be directed to the video streaming page (which you may access directly at www.talbotcountymd.gov/index.php?page=council-meeting-videos). Closed captioning is available on the livestream video.
- Watch via YouTube at www.youtube.com/midshorecommunitytelevision
- Easton Cable subscribers may view the meeting through TV-Channel 98
- Listen to the meeting by calling 833-491-0327
To provide public comment:
- Submit written public comments to the Talbot County Council via email to [email protected] or via mail to County Council, Courthouse, South Wing, 11 N. Washington St., Easton, MD 21601.
- To provide public comments verbally during the County Council meeting, call 833-491-0327
Edith Knoblick says
My 2 cents:
July 29 2020
Dear Honorable Council Members,
Re: In Support of Resolution #290 to remove the Talbot Boys statue from the Courthouse lawn
I would like to offer my support for Resolution #290 to remove the statue of The Talbot Boys, in its entirety, including the granite base. I think it is imperative that the Council take immediate action to help alleviate, in every way it can, the racial divide that continues to affect our communities across the nation, including here in Talbot County. The Confederate flag symbolizes white supremacy and racial oppression, as it did at the time of the Civil War, as it did years later when this statue was erected. As it does today. This symbolism is well-known and not unique to Talbot County, or to the United States.
Statues, by their nature, invoke strong feelings and convey symbolic messages. This statue depicts a young man baring the Confederate flag standing aloft a pedestal inscribed with the names of 84 Talbot county men, Boys, who died defending the Confederacy, defending slavery. This statue memorializes these named carved in granite, above which, a young boy carries a Confederate flag home. The youthful symbolism of hope, for the endurance of the Confederacy, is alive and supported. The fact that the name of the statue is The Talbot Boys, makes clear the identity of the men in granite, the symbolic foundation of racial supremacy. It too must be removed.
It seems to me that Confederate symbolism is contrary to our fundamental American ideals and rights of equal freedom, liberty and justice, under the law. This statue is placed at the courthouse entrance. How can any Black person, or any person of color, feel that they will receive any of these rights, when they are reminded that white supremacy and racial oppression are glorified on the same hallowed ground that their ancestors may have been sold as chattel? The continued presence and purpose are opposite the American rights and ideals that I hold most true. Freedom. Liberty. Justice. I enjoy these rights as a white American woman. It is my privilege.
These Confederate statues were strategically placed out of fear – to instill fear. With this statue, it is both the bronzed boy and flag, as well as the granite foundation that hold the full meaning. Romanticized by literary myth, that heritage is shared by many (all?) white Americans, north and south, our boys, our family, it is our whiteness. The flag this boy carries home is the Confederate one. The flag drapes around the boy’s shoulder and he marches onward, unscathed and in homage. The boy is supported by the men with the strength of granite, and the legacy of the Confederacy, remains – ALIVE.
The statue continues to represent and to remind everyone in the community how deadly divided Talbot County, and our country, was during the Civil War. That divide did not heal with the end of the war. Placing a Confederate statue on the courthouse lawn reminded Black people that white people were in still in charge 50 years after the war, that reminder stands today. Did the Confederacy not lose Talbot County? Should we cling to and glorify our heritage of white supremacy and racial oppression? No. We cannot. We must not. While we cannot undo the harm caused by a legacy of racial supremacy and oppression, we must find a way forward to bridge that great racial divide, and we must start now. Removal of the Talbot Boys statue is a good beginning.
There are 84 names on this statue of the men who died in a war that lasted less than 5 years.
What about names that we will never know? What about the millions upon millions of Black people; men and women, boys and girls, grandmothers and grandfathers, who were enslaved, over hundreds and hundreds of years for the economic benefit of both north and south as we built this great country? Some of those people were bought and sold on the same courthouse steps, right next to the statue.
Do we know their names?
Did their lives matter?
Replacing the Talbot Boys with another statue, depicting men from both sides of the war, would once again ignore the reality of the horrors of those who suffered through generations of enslavement. There is no way to memorialize either side of a Civil War against slavery without recognizing that those who loss the most were Black people.
What kind of vessel would we need to build to hold that amount of grief?
Perhaps we could think of the removal of the Talbot Boys statue as a necessary surgery, cutting deeply into an old would that never really healed. We must scrap out the infection of racial oppression and rid our community of the pain it has caused us all. We must find a way to stitch the community together, better this time, insuring equality for all. What kind of salve can we apply? Perhaps we can listen. Perhaps we can learn. Perhaps a salve of love.
The time is long overdue to do the right thing and remove this symbol of dominance and fear from our courthouse lawn. I implore the Council to listen to all voices in our community, especially those within the Black community, including the NAACP and the ACLU. Removal of this statue is the right thing to do.
I am a Talbot County resident who came here to stay. I love Talbot County. This is my home. Undoing racism is part of the work we all need to do across the country. (Here too.)
Thank you for the opportunity to be express my support of Resolution # 290 including the base.
Respectfully submitted,
Edith M. Knoblick
Sherwood, MD July 2020
Stephen Schaare says
Dear Ms. Knoblick, Quite an essay. How long have you lived in Talbot County?
Joan Young says
I don’t know how long she has lived here or why that matters. I have lived in Talbot County for 35 years and agree with her position.
Keith Watts says
Ms. Knoblick,
A sincerest thank you. Agree more, I could not. “The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There’s only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment.” ~ Gautama Buddha
Sean Hickey says
Removing a century old statue that no one had a problem with until two years ago will not erase your sense of white guilt. Give us a break.