The "Spirit of the Confederacy" monument in Bolton Hill has caused my face to flush many times over the dozen or so years I have called Baltimore my home ("City, county leaders demand change to address Confederate symbols in Maryland," June 23). It stands between Mount Royal Terrace and Mount Royal Avenue, and every morning it casts a shadow on the Midtown Academy. A few years ago as a member of the Mount Royal Improvement Association and later a member of the Midtown Academy board, I politely suggested actions that we might take, as neighbors, to find a way to "deal" with this questionable symbol that has been a part of our landscape for so many years.
It is not an ostentatious monument but a quiet and sad depiction of the Angel of Glory propping up a dying soldier of the Confederacy who is carrying his battle flag to the end. It is easy to overlook, especially in the hustle and bustle of starting a new school day or while enjoying the festivities of Artscape or while dragging your latest art project to be critiqued by your MICA professor. It is easy to overlook, especially if you do not know what it is and what it symbolizes. I knew better. I knew that it was a determined statement to honor the cause of the rebels who fought in the Civil War. It was intended to remind subsequent generations of the so-called "Lost Cause" — an honorific which was hung on the brows of the fallen supporters of slavery and the bigotry that defined the Confederacy. The Lost Cause has been used for generations to subtly mask an underlying bitter intolerance and ill-will with a contorted mishmash of faulty economic, moral and historical rhetoric. Nearly every day for years, I saw that monument for exactly what it was but was unable muster up the courage and strength of character to demand that this blemish on our environs be addressed.
I am ashamed of that. Oh, I can say that I did bring it up a few times in meetings or with neighbors but I never took a strong position against this symbol. While I have failed to act in other ways that I am not proud of, I hope that I can learn from this failure. More importantly though, I feel the larger winds of change blowing and I am encouraged to once again raise this issue with my friends and neighbors. Because of the tragedy last week in Charleston, S.C., and the upswell of emotion throughout the nation, I am no longer burdened by a fear of being too loud, too demanding or too self-righteously driven. The incredible hardship of those nine families in South Carolina makes this seem easy. I wish I had shown more strength of character years ago when I was walking my daughter to school every day but I am thankful for the current opportunity.
Please, take down the Spirit of the Confederacy memorial on Mount Royal Avenue. If we can't take it down, then we should add a historical plaque that explains the dubious logic and offensive pretense that allowed it to be erected and continue to stand.
Tim Ingles, Pikesville