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Salisbury Mayor Joins Call for Removal of Confederate Marker

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Salisbury Mayor Jake Day has joined a petition to remove the marker at the historic Wicomico County Courthouse commemorating Confederate General John Henry Winder.

Day told the Salisbury Daily Times that Winder had not connection with Salisbury.

He noted that the confederate general was from Nanticoke adding that was the place for such a marker.

Day also said that the marker should include that the general was a war criminal because of his time with confederate prisons that saw abuses – including the  Andersonville facility.

James Yamakawa with the group Showing Up for Racial Justice has been behind the effort to remove the marker noted that the current site was where slaves were actually sold.

But those like Stephen Hall of Salisbury told the Daily Times that he was outraged at calls to remove the plaque.

He wondered wonder if this was part of an effort to destroy the history of the Confederacy.

Wicomico County Council President John Cannon told the Daily Times that the county has not taken any position on the issue and is not certain about whose jurisdiction it would fall into.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.