July 17, 2007|By Jennifer Skalka | Jennifer Skalka,SUN REPORTER
FREDERICK -- A bronze bust of Roger Brooke Taney stares sternly ahead, as if he were watching the two cherubs frolicking in the fountain in front of City Hall. Author of the inflammatory Dred Scott decision affirming slavery, Taney has been immortalized here for 75 years, largely ignored by passers-by.
But as Frederick has grown and become more diverse, a small band of residents is looking to move, or remove, this tribute to the Supreme Court chief justice who once resided in the city, saying his racism can no longer be condoned - even in the context of history.
"It's quite offensive to have that there," said E. Kevin Lollar, an attorney who is also director of development for Frederick's Housing Authority. "I realize that it's a part of history, but so were a lot of other things that we eventually let go of."
Lollar has joined forces with the head of the local NAACP and the leader of United Latinos of Greater Frederick to prompt a public discussion about the bust. The trio hopes that conversation will convince the city's mayor and aldermen to put Taney's likeness in what they believe is a more appropriate spot; the local museum is one possibility.
The group is looking to capitalize on the General Assembly's passage this year of a resolution expressing "profound regret" for Maryland's role in slavery. Taney's decision, meanwhile, was lambasted here last month by Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who said it "threw the country on its ear."
In the 1857 majority opinion, Taney ruled that Dred Scott, a Missouri slave who had traveled with his master into free territory and wanted his freedom made permanent, should remain enslaved. The language Taney used in describing black Americans forever tarred his legal legacy - despite his nearly 30 years as chief justice. He wrote that the Founding Fathers regarded blacks as "beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect."
While respectful of the ire that Taney's writing still sparks in many today, not everyone thinks a potentially divisive debate about Taney's 150-year-old decision - and more broadly about race - would be good for Frederick.
"It's a huge battle - I'd rather spend our time and energy dealing with issues that are going to help people right now," said Mayor William J. Holtzinger, a Republican who was elected in 2005. "Moving or not moving that bust isn't going to do a thing to help people."
Alderman Alan E. Imhoff, a Republican who has lived in Frederick for 23 years, said he doesn't see "any real reason to remove [the bust]."
"What has passed has passed, and it's all part of the fabric of our American life," Imhoff said. "Chief Justice Taney was more than just one issue in the life of the country."
The doorway to scenic Western Maryland, Frederick has long been known statewide for its politically conservative leanings and homogeneity. But during the past two decades, the city's population has boomed, and its black and Hispanic populations are on the rise.
Between 1990 and 2006, Frederick's total population has soared nearly 47 percent, from 40,148 to 58,882, according to U.S. Census data.
Blacks make up about 15 percent of the city population, up from 13 percent in 1990. Hispanic residents are about 5 percent of Frederick residents, more than double their percentage of the population in 1990.
Irene Packer, board chair of United Latinos of Greater Frederick, said she believes a public dialogue about the bust could lead to a more pressing discussion of how the city can take better care of its underserved populations, in the area of affordable housing, in particular, and diversity education.
"I think that the county is changing so much, and so rapidly - almost what happened in Montgomery County - that we haven't taken the time to consider those issues," said Packer, who lives in nearby New Market and works as senior vice president for the Development Training Institute in Ellicott City.
But signs that such a conversation might not be welcomed by some were bountiful on a recent steamy Friday afternoon. Resident after resident approached by a reporter along historic Market Street, lined with shops and cafes and even a sign protesting Starbucks, declined to comment for this article. City Attorney Saundra Nickols dodged an inquiry (and did not return subsequent phone calls) about the formal public process for removing an item from city property. Would the five-member board of aldermen vote? Could the mayor make the decision? Is a public hearing required?
Seated at his office desk, the mayor, meanwhile, gestured to a table overflowing with blueprints to make his case for staying focused on city business. He noted that just a small group of people have written to him and the aldermen requesting that the Taney bust be moved.
