Maryland County Panel Votes Again to Keep Rebel Flag Statue
EASTON, Md. (AP) -- A Maryland county council has voted to keep a century-old statue depicting a color bearer holding a Confederate flag on the courthouse lawn.
The Star Democrat newspaper reports the Talbot County Council's unanimous decision Tuesday to keep the Talbot Boys Statue repeats one the council made in a closed session last fall. But that meeting, held in private, violated Maryland's Open Meetings Act.
The statue has faced criticism, and in July the NAACP recommended its removal.
County Council President Corey Pack said Tuesday that the Talbot Boys statue doesn't promote slavery, but the values of the Confederacy. He said it's part of the county's history.
Maryland was a Union state in the Civil War, but its Eastern Shore, where Talbot County is located, was a hotbed of Confederate sympathy.
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Information from: The Star Democrat of Easton, Md., http://www.stardem.com
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