In 2020, we are once again faced with the issue of Confederate monuments and their perpetual message of hate bigotry and white supremacy. Just a little over a weeks ago, the nation witnessed the murder of George Floyd. The murder of Mr. Floyd should have pained our hearts. I take great pause to ask the question, has our hate for one another grown to the point where we now have a blatant disregard for life?
In 2015 The NAACP Branch met with The Talbot County Council members in an open meeting to discuss the relocation of the Confederate Monument known as the Talbot Boys monument that honors citizens who fought for slavery and against the United States of America. After our initial meeting, we attended several public town hall meetings where members of our community; supporters and non-supporters came out and publicly stated their position on the Talbot Boys monument. Those in support believe that the statue is of historical significance, that slavery was not an issue in the civil war and as such it should be maintained with taxpayer dollars. Those of us against the statue remaining on public property agree that it is symbolic of our history and therefore it should be placed in a museum or some other suitable place. The Talbot Boys monument should not be maintained with public funds. The confederacy lost the war and slavery was abolished. Arguably everyone who voluntarily fought for the Confederacy was guilty of treason.
After all these meetings and discussions, the Talbot County Council, decided behind closed doors to continue to maintain the monument. We challenged your method of voting and asked that it to be done in a public forum and you voted no again. I am more than certain that once you unanimously casted your vote of no as it pertains to moving the statue you thought that this issue would dissipate as time passed. However, the right thing to do will always make its way back to the forefront.
Therefore, we the Officers and Members of the Talbot County Branch of the NAACP, reiterate once again our recommendations. They remain the same as they did in 2015 and that is to relocate the Talbot Boys monument from the Courthouse lawn and place it to a more appropriate setting and commission a group of citizens who can reasonably discuss the creation of a new monument that would be inclusive of both the Union and Confederate soldiers of the Civil War. How long are the members of the Talbot County Council going to continue to fight for a “Lost Cause”? and uphold Confederate Monuments in public spaces? “The time is always right to do the right thing”. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Talbot County Branch
David Robbins says
If that one goes, so does Frederick Douglass
Cheryl Hoopes says
Frederick Douglass was a hero who fought for right and real freedom; the Talbot boys fought for wrong and oppression. The Talbot boys statue should never have been erected in the first place.
Dirck Bartlett says
You fail to mention that in 2015 the NAACP made the recommendation to the Talbot County Council to remove the Talbot Boys Statue and then install a new statue with a joint purpose statue to commorate Union and Confederate soldiers.
At the time I asked you why you would tear down one confederate statue only to build another. That proposal made no sence to me and I said so when we met (in public) to discuss your proposal.
Had we approved this proposal and installed a new joint Confederate/Union Statue in 2015, I am quite certain we would be tearing that statue down in 2020. I just wanted to set the record straight as this same debate continues………………..