Maryland News

Maryland State House Trust Votes To Remove Confederate-Sympathizing Plaque From State House

June 15, 2020 / 9:30 PM EDT / CBS Baltimore

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- The Maryland State House Trust has voted to remove a Confederate-sympathizing plaque from the first floor of the statehouse.

The vote was unanimous, part of a nationwide movement to take down monuments that honor the country's racist past.

The flag of the state of Maryland covers a part of a plaque commemorating Maryland residents who fought in the Civil War where the U.S. flag and the Confederate flag were once shown, Friday, June 12, 2020 at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md. While a four-member panel decided to cover the Confederate flag last year, support is growing to have the plaque removed entirely from the Capitol. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

On Twitter, House Speaker Adrienne Jones, the first Black person elected to the position, called the vote "a symbolic step in our efforts to create more systemic equality."

with the addition of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass statues, which more accurately reflect this time period.

While this is a symbolic step in our efforts to create more systemic equality, it is an important one so that all Marylanders feel welcome in their State House.
— Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (@SpeakerAJones) June 15, 2020

"We have made great strides to reflect the importance of African-Americans in our State's history over the past year with the addition of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass statues, which more accurately reflect this time period," she wrote in a series of tweets.