Montgomery County decides to hide, instead of confront, its ugly history
The civil war over the Confederate Civil War soldier whose granite likeness has stood for more than a century outside the Rockville courthouse appears to be over.
Having been sheathed in plywood for two years — either to protect it from vandals or to protect viewers from its offensive sight — the soldier is moving, finally, to a new location at White’s Ferry on the Potomac River. That seems as fitting a place as any, since the cable car ferry, the Jubal A. Early, is named for a Confederate general who came close to capturing the nation’s capital in July 1864.
As Early’s invasion was turned back, so, too, has this tangible reminder of his lost cause.
When the Confederate statue was first proposed, a leading veteran thought it should be located at Monocacy Cemetery, just a few miles inland from White’s Ferry. But its symbolic importance in the county seat could not be denied. At the dedication, in 1913, 3,000 people showed up, in a county that then had only 30,000 people. That would be the equivalent today of 100,000 citizens turning out for a similar event in the county that now contains 1 million residents.
The soldier had already been moved once, back in 1971, from a prominent spot in front of the old courthouse to one side, where it was virtually hidden behind a grove of trees that blocked the view. For the second time now, revisionism and reconstruction have marched hand in hand to, if not erase, then at least to hide any evidence in the county of “the late unpleasantness.”
As we rewrite or at least relegate unpleasant history from a central site to an outlying location, far from the mad and maddening crowd, it seems “the lost cause” has lost again. So now, only a few ferryboat commuters will have to confront the ugly part of the county’s history.
The rest of us can buy into the more pleasing narrative of our multicultural present and pretend the whole dirty business of slavery and the county’s role in trying to preserve it never happened.
Eugene L. Meyer is a former Post reporter and editor and the author of “Maryland Lost and Found . . . Again” and “Chesapeake Country.” This column appeared in The Washington Post online 3/17/17 and in print 3/19/17. It is republished here with permission.
This action to board up history and to attempt to banish the Confederate Monument from the county seat of Montgomery is from the same crowd of mental midgets who will eventually remove the Holocaust Musem from the National Mall.
Woe to those who never learn or remember history.
It won’t be long before the politically correct revisionists start an effort to rename the Washington Monument, as, after all, George owned slaves. And since Columbus didn’t discover America, it was already populated by Indians who hadn’t yet seen the value of casinos, The ‘District of Columbia’ moniker is going to have to go too.
Great article from a reasoned and responsible mind. Thanks, Gene Meyer, for offering this point of view, too bad the Post isn’t running this article — or perhaps they will.
Thanks, Ken. The Post did run this article, on its Close to Home page on Sunday.