Rockville City Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton and city councilmembers unanimously agreed on Sept. 14 to send a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan and the Maryland General Assembly urging the removal of “Maryland, My Maryland” as the state song.
In the letter, they urge Hogan and the Maryland General Assembly to replace the song with one that “amplifies the diversity, inclusion, equity, and unity that is representative of our wonderful communities,” according to the press release.
The Mayor and Council are calling on the Maryland General Assembly to remove and replace the state song, "Maryland, My Maryland," with something that better reflects our shared values. See the discussion: https://t.co/bbXFBA3xRj
— City of Rockville (@Rockville411) September 22, 2020
“The number of times that this thing has come forward for objections to it is unbelievable that it has taken this long,” Councilmember Beryl L. Feinberg said in the virtual discussion.
In addition, Maryland lawmakers have recently advocated for a new state song.
Montgomery County Council has introduced a resolution urging Maryland State Lawmakers to remove the state song. Since July 14, the Council has refrained from playing the song at all at Montgomery County sponsored events.
“Maryland, My Maryland (The Free State Song)” was co-written by Jaime Raskin (D-Md) and introduced as a replacement for the current state song.
The “Maryland, My Maryland” was adopted in 1939 as the state song by the legislature and originally composed by James Ryder Randall as a nine stanza poem. Randall’s outrage at the news of Union troops marching through Baltimore prompted the poem. The song became a battle hymn and symbol of Confederate America.
Mayor Newton and councilmembers described the song as “[the] antithesis of our shared values of diversity, inclusion, equity, and unity.”
