Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Maryland Delegate Jill Carter (D-Baltimore City) introduced a bill Monday that would remove the statue of Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roger Brooke Taney from State House grounds in Annapolis.
The bronze statue has been there since 1872, and Carter’s bill would also have it destroyed.
Taney wrote the Dread Scott v. Sanford decision in 1857 which barred all African Americans from becoming American citizens whether they were slaves or not.
“There’s only one group of people I know now who are actively destroying statues and historical artifacts. I don’t think we want to be lumped in with them,” said Frederick Community College history professor Jim Powell referring to ISIS.
The Annapolis statue is one of many in the D.C. metro area that people want to see removed due to its ties to the Confederacy. Even though Taney was in favor of slavery, Powell said he shouldn’t be linked to the Confederacy.
He added he’s amazed at how little people know about Taney explaining he’s a seminal figure in American Constitutional history.
Taney’s court helped facilitate the rise to a market economy and the expansion of an economy beyond a local one, something Powell credits with making America the economic power that it is today.
“To reduce him to one decision and look at him, just one side of his life, I think is doing him a tremendous tremendous disservice. Frankly, I find it embarrassing as an educator,” Powell said.
Carter did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.
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