The University of Maryland’s marching band will no longer paly the official state song of Maryland at school sporting events because the song has ties to the Confederacy.
The marching band cut”Maryland, my Maryland” from the Southern-leaning state song from its line-up. In fact, after the deadly rallies in Charlottesville, CBS Baltimore reports that the controversial state anthem will not be played on the campus at all.
“Maryland, my Maryland” is a nine-verse war poem put to music. It talks of spurning the “Northern scum” and was a pro-Confederate battle hymn during the Civil War.
Many students are not upset about the change, reports CBS Baltimore. Chris Rogers, one student, said he would be more upset if they didn’t play the fight song, because he doesn’t even know what the state anthem tune is.
However, some students do feel passionately. Monica Alston said that she thinks “it’s a little absurd what lengths people are going to. They’re going to ban songs. They’re going to ban everything,” according to CBS Baltimore. Meanwhile, Cheyenne Jones told CBS Baltimore that it “makes more sense than trying to change lyrics to an old song anyway.
However, Maryland lawmakers will notice, CBS Baltimore says, because back in 2016 there were debates about how to handle the pro-confederate tune. In the past, Governor Hogan has pushed back against efforts to change the song, writes CBS Baltimore.
Back in 2015, the university removed the name of a former school president and segregationist from the stadium.
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
