Isbella Diaz
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Frederick City government officials will discuss what will be done with the Roger Brooke Taney statue outside of City Hall Thursday evening.
Many locals are angry that the bust remains on display in front of City Hall and have called for its removal. Some have proposed that the bust be moved to a more appropriate location, such as a museum.
Chief Justice Taney wrote the majority decision in Supreme Court case, Dredd Scott v. Sanford. which said Congress could not prevent people in the Midwest from owning slaves.
Over the weekend, two men were caught on camera dumping red paint onto the statue. While the motive for the vandalism has not yet been confirmed, speculation is that it was a response to the controversial history of the man behind the bust. Police are still looking for the suspects.
Michael Powell, a historian with Frederick Community College, said that there was more to the Taney statue’s presence in Frederick than the ruling in the Dredd Scott case.
“[He] lived in Frederick, practiced law in Frederick, owned property in Frederick, and that’s his connection,” said Powell.
Powell also said that the best solution for Frederick County is to find a middle ground, pointing out that Taney’s whole reputation shouldn’t be tainted by that one decision.
“It’s unfair of us to analyze Taney’s actions using our 20th Century values,” said Powell.
In Powell’s opinion, it would be best to keep the statue up while also acknowledging Taney’s ruling in the Dredd Scott Case. This could be done, suggested Powell, by adding a plaque that explained what the decision meant for slavery.
His suggestion isn’t a far-fetched idea, either. In fact, when the issue of the Taney statue previously came up, that’s exactly what the Frederick Board decided to do.
Lately, however, Powell thinks the county has been more concerned with politics than history. He worries that the county is going too far in removing names and figures from the U.S.’s pre-Civil War past.
“Are we going to begin changing the names of schools?” asked Powell. “Are we going to get rid of land that used to be worked by slaves and is now owned by the county or the city? How far do we go?”
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