Jeremy Cox

The Daily Times

Tensions flared during a County Council meeting centered on the removal of a Confederate marker from the courthouse lawn in downtown Salisbury.

Activists pushing for the removal of the marker are "causing so much divisiveness" and should redirect their energy toward a slightly different cause, County Council President John Cannon said.

Cannon has been noncommittal in previous comments on the controversy, saying he has "mixed emotions" and that the matter should possibly be left to voters to decide.

But after a lengthy and heated exchange between the two sides at the council meeting Tuesday, he said the marker should stay put.

"There seems to be a hysteria across the country right now," Cannon said. "Removing the marker can create racial divisiveness."

Instead of seeking to topple the sign commemorating the life of Confederate Gen. John Henry Winder, he said activists should erect another nearby highlighting Frederick Douglass. There is currently no public display observing the Eastern Shore-born civil rights icon — who gave a speech inside the county courthouse in 1880.

Cannon, a Wicomico native, said he was unaware of Douglass' connection to the building until some of the pro-removal activists called attention to it.

One by one, speakers on both side of the debate traded rhetorical volleys during the public comment portion of the County Council meeting.

Several cities and states have removed Confederate markers in recent months amid arguments that they stand as monuments to white supremacy.

Last month, workers in Annapolis removed a statue of Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney, who authored the decision holding that black Americans could not be citizens.

In many ways, Tuesday's passionate pleas represented a microcosm of the controversy swirling across many parts of the country. There were references to Nazi Germany, Martin Luther King Jr.'s ambiguous stance on homosexuality and an erroneous characterization of Maryland as a "Confederate state."

More:Confederate marker not a 'pressing issue,' Wicomico officials say

Two civil rights organizations, the Wicomico NAACP chapter and Showing Up for Racial Justice, led off with calls to remove the marker from the courthouse's lawn.

"This is a national problem where our local officials are granted the privilege to do what’s right for the citizens they serve," Wicomico NAACP President Mary Ashanti said, adding that the marker's presence "reminds us of hate and bigotry."

The marker's perch on the courthouse lawn is especially hurtful because it was once the site of a tavern where slaves were kept before being sold, said Amber Green, a founder of the Fenix Youth Project, a group that promotes leadership through the arts.

Speaking from a lectern within feet of the council, she addressed the elected officials in a measured voice, saying: “Look at me. Do I make you uncomfortable? Does my pain, does my anger, does my distrust for you make you uncomfortable? But I’m here to tell you that it’s each one of you that makes me uncomfortable.”

Winder, a native of the area that became known as Wicomico County, spent a career in the army before joining the Confederacy at the outbreak of the Civil War. During the latter half of the war, he oversaw the South's notorious prisoner-of-war camps, where thousands of Union soldiers died from disease and exposure.

More:Salisbury black community troubled by Confederate general's marker

A historical marker providing a brief biography of his life was first erected along South Salisbury Boulevard. That it was raised in 1965 during the civil rights movement has not gone unnoticed among the markers' detractors.

It was moved to the courthouse lawn in 1983 after it was involved in several vehicle collisions.

The sign's defenders Tuesday repeated arguments that its removal would be tantamount to erasing history.

“I’m not some kind of Nazi white supremacist," said Rabbi Allan Bailey of the Delmarva Messianic Fellowship. "I’m just here on the side of reality. Where do we draw the line if everything was offensive?"

Destroying such symbols diminishes the lessons they might impart to future generations, Bailey said. He drew some jeers from the audience when he incorrectly referred to Maryland as a "Confederate state."

For her part, Julie Brewington said the sign is innocuous. She has family who fought on both sides of the war, she said, and worries that marker protests will inspire more violence like the clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“This is a political movement designed to upset people and get them fighting each other," she said. “I feel like I woke up in a time capsule to the 1950s, and I feel very defensive about my historical family relationship.”

A comment made by Bailey was later picked up by Cannon in his remarks. Bailey had made the satirical suggestion that maybe Martin Luther King monuments should be taken down as well because of his tortuous posture toward homosexuality.

Cannon said he agreed with the comparison.

"This council represents the whole county," he said.

None of the other council members addressed the controversy. But several spoke up about the city and county's fire service agreement. The two controversies were interwoven during the public's turn to talk.

Two online petitions were created in June, one calling for the Winder marker's removal and the other rising to its defense. Cannon said the removal petition seemed to be signed by many people from out of the area — a claim its supporters have lodged just as firmly against the counter-petitioners.

But since the petition in favor of its staying put received several hundred more signatures, it is clear that the majority has spoken, Cannon said.

The Maryland Historical Trust, which manages the marker, has told activists that it would consult with the State Highway Administration on relocating the marker only if the County Council requests the action.

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