Confederate Statue on the Old Court House Grounds in Rockville and "Political Correctness"

There has been a lot of commentary on social media about Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s decision, reported in the Washington Post, to remove the statue of a Confederate soldier that sits on the grounds of the old court house in Rockville. I grew up in Montgomery County, but was not aware of the statue until, well into my adulthood, I attended an event at the old court house.

Upon reading the inscription, a dedication to the soldiers who fought to preserve human slavery in our own state and in the rest of the country, I felt embarrassed. I do not see a significant difference between public space being used to honor the Confederacy and public space being used to honor the 1933-45 German government. Similarly, I am embarrassed at the lyrics of our state song, "Maryland, My Maryland," which are an unambiguous call for Maryland to support Confederacy. For example, no one disputes that the opening line -- “The despot’s heel is on thy shore” --  refers to President Lincoln.

The Post article also notes that County Executive Leggett’s “decision comes on the heels of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s announcement last week that there would be no statewide review of Civil War-related symbols... ‘Where do we draw the line? Some of this is our history,’ said Hogan (R), calling the petition efforts [to have such a review] ‘political correctness run amok.’” I believe that too often the phrase “political correctness” is used as a lazy way to fail to confront important questions of how we communicate with each other, and how our government presents itself. This is one of those times. Flags and statues that adorn our public spaces have important symbolic meaning. Symbols of support for human slavery have no place in such public adornments.