The anti-racist rebellion against America's quasi-implicit/explicit white racial founding and past continues unabated, with a monument of white children defaced in now-70 percent black Baltimore.
Paid for by pennies collected by white children in a nearly 90 percent white Baltimore in 1914, the bronze statue placed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner was defaced with the writing "racist anthem."
A monument built by pennies collected by white children in 1914 (a nearly 90% white Baltimore) to honor the 100th anniversary of Francis Scott Key penning the Star Spangled Banner was defaced in 70 percent black Baltimore
It stands, a monument of two white children—representing a far different Baltimore than the one breaking per capita homicide records every year since blacks rioted in the name of a dead heroin dealer—as a reminder of the past greatness of a city amid the Lovecraftean decline of a great American city:Patterson Park statue honoring national anthem is defaced, found sprayed with red paint, Baltimore Sun, 1-15-18A statue paid for with pennies contributed by Baltimore school children more than a century ago was found sprayed with red paint Monday morning.
Jennifer Arndt Robinson, executive director of Friends of Patterson Park, said the bronze statue of children holding a scroll to commemorate the writing of the Star Spangled Banner had been damaged by paint. The words “Racist Anthem” were sprayed on a sidewalk near the statue.
“We were notified early this morning of the incident,” Robinson said. “We are working with appropriate city officials to make sure it is addressed as quickly as possible.”
Robinson said a cannon near the statue also was hit by paint.
A spray paint can was recovered at the site and is being handed over to the Baltimore police, she said.Baltimore was founded as a white city, built by white people to shelter generations of white Baltimoreans to come. It was abandoned by white people when black crime became a constant threat, and is now a 70 percent black city lorded over by black elected officials utilizing the specter of black crime to keep gentrification at bay.“While we recognize the issue of freedom of expression, there has to be more appropriate ways to have that conversation,” Robinson said.
Reginald Moore, city parks director, called the damage unfortunate. He said in a statement that city maintenance workers are working with the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation to assess the extent of the damage.
“We understand the sensitivity of this matter and will work with City Hall and the Friends of Patterson Park to find a solution,” he wrote.
Baltimore Police Department spokesman Donnie Moses said that police are investigating the vandalization but have no immediate suspects.
The 1914 statue, the work of sculptor J. Maxwell Miller, shows two school children holding a scroll that reads: “To commemorate the centennial of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner, the pupils of the public schools of Baltimore have erected this memorial upon Hampstead Hill where in September, 1814, the citizen soldiers of Maryland stood ready to sacrifice their lives in defense of their homes and their country.”
The statue in Patterson Park isn’t the first to be vandalized in recent months. Among other incidents, a monument in Bolton Hill to Francis Scott Key — who wrote the poem that would later become the national anthem — was splashed with red paint in September. There, too, the words "Racist Anthem" were written in paint.
And in August, a monument to Christopher Columbus in Herring Run Park was smashed. A video posted to YouTube showed a man striking the base of the monument with a sledgehammer. Another person held a sign that said "Racism, tear it down."
Our monuments, built to celebrate our history, stand as powerful rebukes to the egalitarianism dominating 21st century American life, which is why they must be defaced, vandalized, demonized, and ultimately destroyed.
It should be noted white children in 1914 raised those pennies to build a monument to their people, one their children and grandchildren could admire. In 2018, Baltimore City Schools has a student body roughly 8 percent white, 80 percent black and 10 percent Hispanic.
