Maryland legislators are considering removing lyrics from their state song that glorify the Confederacy. Written as a poem by James Ryder Randall in the 19th century, lyrics from "Maryland, My Maryland" refer to the Union as "northern scum." Later in the poem, Randall encourages Confederates to confront the union and former President Abraham Lincoln.
"She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb. Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum! She breathes! she burns! she’ll come! she’ll come! Maryland! My Maryland," Randall wrote.
Beginning in the 1970s, lawmakers pushed to have certain lyrics from Randall's song removed. Recent protests regarding the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Jacob Blake have helped the movement to alter Randall's poem gain steam.
“Confederate-sympathizing language is not representative of who we are as a state any longer,” House Speaker Adrienne Jones said.
“This session, we will pass legislation to repeal the state song so we can better reflect our current values of unity, diversity and inclusion. We have come too far as a state and as a country to continue to embrace symbols of hate and division.”
Many major establishments and venues within the state have stopped playing the state song. Most notably, the University of Maryland marching band stopped playing the song before sporting events. In addition, the Pimlico Race Course has stopped playing the song before the Preakness Stakes. With increasing momentum, legislators are cautiously optimistic that the state song will be altered in 2021.
“The challenge has been in the past acknowledging our history while also wanting to fix it and remove the offensive parts of our history,” Sen. Cheryl Kagan said.
“We can’t keep brushing this under the carpet and ignoring it."
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