WASHINGTON | Maryland on Tuesday deleted the controversial anthem of the northeastern US state, whose lyrics were criticized for being favorable to the slave-trading South during the Civil War.
The state’s governor, Republican Larry Hogan, ratified the repeal law, which was passed by a large majority in March by elected officials.
“We are repealing the anthem of the state which is a relic of Confederation,” he explained during the signing ceremony. “It is clearly obsolete and outdated.”
The song “Maryland, My Maryland”, written during the Civil War by a supporter of the Confederate cause, made particular reference to “despot” Abraham Lincoln and called the soldiers of the abolitionist North “rotten.”
Maryland was a slave state, but sided with the Union in the Civil War.
The anthem was officially adopted in 1939, at a time when racial segregation was in effect in the state, and elected officials in this predominantly Democratic state had regularly tried to repeal it for several years.
It was played at official ceremonies, but due to the controversy, the organizers of the famous Preakness Stakes horse race have removed it since the 2020 edition.
The authorities have not yet chosen a replacement song, but several projects are under consideration.
The move comes as the United States has been mulling over its past of racism and segregation for a year, amid a historic wave of protest against discrimination after several deaths of African Americans killed by police officers.
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