ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland lawmakers are considering a formal state apology for the government’s role in racial terror lynchings, including what the resolution describes as complicity, negligence and failures to protect Black Marylanders from mob violence.
Senate Joint Resolution 3, introduced Feb. 6 by Sens. Charles Sydnor and Malcolm Augustine, says there were 38 documented racial terror lynchings in Maryland between 1854 and 1933. The resolution states that no one was ever held accountable for those crimes.
The measure goes considerably further than offering a general apology. It would have the state acknowledge responsibility for a dozen specific failures and actions, ranging from denying equal protection and failing to pass anti-lynching legislation to government involvement in concealing perpetrators and contributing to the destruction of Black communities.
- Maryland would apologize for its role in 38 documented racial terror lynchings as well as additional cases that may not yet have been discovered.
- The resolution says state, county and local government entities colluded in the crimes and concealed the identities of people involved.
- Maryland would commit to reparative actions recommended by the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Resolution Says Maryland Government Failed to Protect Black Residents
The resolution traces its origins to the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which the General Assembly authorized in 2019 to investigate racial terror lynchings and recommend ways of addressing their legacy through restorative justice.
According to the resolution, the commission recommended that the General Assembly issue “an apology and acknowledgment of responsibility” for government complicity and negligence in allowing racial terror lynchings.
SJR 3 states that between 1854 and 1933, 38 documented racial terror lynchings occurred in Maryland and that nobody was held accountable for committing those crimes.
The resolution makes an especially serious allegation concerning government involvement, declaring that “various State, county, and local government entities colluded in the commission of these crimes and conspired to conceal the identities of the parties involved.”
It also says Maryland failed to protect Black people descended from U.S. chattel slavery from being forcibly taken by lynch mobs and murdered without due process.
The resolution points specifically to unsuccessful efforts to enact anti-lynching legislation in 1898 and 1933.
Maryland Apology Would Cover 12 Areas of State Responsibility
The proposed apology contains 12 separate acknowledgments of state responsibility.
Maryland would apologize for its “role in the murder of each victim” in the 38 documented cases, along with undiscovered and attempted racial terror lynchings.
It would also acknowledge failing to provide Black Marylanders equal protection and due process under the 14th Amendment and violating their rights through enforcement of racially discriminatory laws.
The resolution says the state should apologize for conspiring and colluding with government entities to conceal the identities of people involved in lynchings and for failing to hold perpetrators accountable.
According to the measure, that inaction constituted “tacit approval of the actions of the perpetrators” and contributed to a sense of impunity.
Lawmakers would additionally acknowledge taking tax dollars from Black Marylanders while failing to provide equal protection, voting rights and equal representation in government.
The resolution links the history of racial terror lynchings to a “breakdown in trust” between many Black Marylanders and law enforcement and other government institutions.
Resolution Commits Maryland to Reparative Actions
SJR 3 reaches beyond lynching itself in describing the historical harms for which the state would apologize.
The resolution cites the destruction of health, wealth, ancestral burial grounds, Black settlements and other “sacred cultural heritage spaces” resulting from racial terror lynchings and racial segregation.
It also addresses the separation of Black families during slavery and Maryland’s support for the Maryland Colonization Society and American Colonization Society.
The measure further cites Jim Crow segregation and mass incarceration among actions and policies it says contributed to the dehumanization of Black Marylanders.
Finally, Maryland would apologize for contributing to the erasure of racial terror lynchings from public memory.
The resolution simultaneously recognizes “the resilience and persistence of Black families and communities in Maryland” harmed by lynchings and their continuing legacy.
Most significantly for what could follow the apology, the resolution states that Maryland “commits to taking reparative actions as recommended by the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” including actions intended to prevent future racially motivated harms.
The text supplied does not specify a dollar amount, establish direct payments or create a new reparations fund. It commits the state to recommended reparative actions without detailing within the resolution precisely what every future action would entail.
If adopted, copies of the resolution would be forwarded to the governor, president of the Maryland Senate and speaker of the House of Delegates.
What would Maryland apologize for under Senate Joint Resolution 3?
The state would acknowledge responsibility for numerous actions and failures connected to racial terror lynchings, including failing to protect Black residents, failing to prosecute perpetrators and government complicity in concealing those involved.
Does Senate Joint Resolution 3 authorize reparations payments?
The supplied resolution does not establish direct payments or specify a monetary reparations program. It commits Maryland to reparative actions recommended by the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
How many racial terror lynchings does the Maryland resolution identify?
The resolution states that 38 racial terror lynchings were documented in Maryland between 1854 and 1933 and says no one was ever held accountable for those crimes.
Sources: Maryland Senate Joint Resolution 3 legislative text.
