>Here we go again. No sooner did we get past the attempt to change Maryland’s official state song, there is now a call to change the name of Negro Mountain, near the small Garrett County community of Grantsville.
Sunday’s edition of The (Baltimore) Sun reported that the winds of discontent are blowing in Annapolis, with calls to change not only the mountain’s name, but also history in the process.
Negro Mountain is said to have been named by 18th-century settlers in the region, but some latter-day folks don’t like that earlier choice. As one might suspect, sides have formed in this little dust-up. A few Baltimore lawmakers hold the opinion that the name, which they consider an outdated relic of the past, should be retired in favor of a more appropriate, currently acceptable one.
Legislators from Western Maryland are having none of such talk, arguing that the name honors an early African-American hero and that the Baltimore crowd should butt out of Western Maryland’s business.
“How about they take care of Baltimore’s crime and drugs, and leave the mountains to us,” opined Delegate Kevin Kelly, a Democrat from Allegany County.
