Baltimore Removed All Of Its Confederate Statues Overnight
The city’s bad ass mayor says she wanted to “get it done”
After white supremacists infiltrated Charlottesville this weekend to protest the removal of a Confederate monument, the reverberations of their terror have been felt intensely throughout the country. Denouncing hate — in all its ugly, racist, bigoted forms — is now more crucial than ever. The further removal of Confederate monuments may seem like a long shot after what occurred in Charlottesville, but other cities aren’t backing down.
Last night, the city of Balitmore removed not one, but four statues dedicated to Confederate “heroes.”
Just after midnight last night, crews worked to remove the statues as quickly as possible. Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh told CNN she was working in line with the city charter to help keep the “community safe.” After the violence and death Charlottesville has seen this past weekend, it’s no wonder Mayor Pugh wants to ensure the safety of her own city.
“I felt the best way to remove the monuments was to remove them overnight,” Pugh said. “I thought that there’s enough grandstanding, enough speeches being made, get it done.”
And get it done she did, because removing four enormous monuments overnight is no easy task – especially when you consider the violence the debate over these monuments have sparked recently.
Leave it to a woman to get that shit done. Can we erect a statue of Mayor Pugh please and thanks? The city of Baltimore seemed to have overall positive reactions on Twitter, with many people documenting the historic removals all over town.
The statues will eventually be relocated, most likely to a Confederate cemetery or a Museum of Great stains on United States History of some sort. It’s also worth noting that Maryland was a member of the Union, not the Confederacy. Unfortunately, southern organizations dedicated to the preservation of the Confederacy found a way to commission statues like these in any state. Because white privilege and supremacy paved the way for these monuments to be erected years after the Civil war, during times when race relations in America were anything but ideal.
You know how the old saying goes: “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”
Other states are scheduled to follow suit with the removal of these symbols of inequality and racism, but there are over 700 Confederate monuments nationwide. Hopefully more mayors take a cue from Mayor Pugh and persist.
