Maryland Town Apologizes For History of Lynchings, But Some Say It’s Not Enough

Decades after three Black men were lynched in Salisbury, Maryland, the city is taking steps toward healing. Salisbury’s City Council just voted to approve an official apology. But while most people agree that it’s a path forward, some think the city’s actions don’t go far enough.

Those advocating for reconciliation wanted Salisbury to issue an apology to all of its Black residents for the murders of Garfield King, Matthew Williams and an unidentified middle-aged Black man who were lynched by white mobs between 1898 and 1931 in the town of 33,000 on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Additionally, they wanted the city to atone for its “historical role in targeting the larger Black community of Salisbury during and after these acts of racial terrorism, and for its negligence in not protecting its own citizens.”

But instead, the city’s apology stops short, addressing only the lynching victim’s families and left out a conversation about a path forward. Critics were quick to call out their words for being too little too late.

“It’s a boilerplate, vanilla apology that doesn’t really say anything,” said James Yamakawa, head of the Wicomico Truth and Reconciliation Initiative, to The Washington Post.

Some, like Monica Brooks, president of the Wicomico County NAACP branch, want the words to be a place to start addressing racial inequities in areas such as housing, education and employment. Although the population of Salisbury is 40 percent Black, they represent less than 15 percent of the city’s workers.

Amber Green, the chairperson of the Truth, Racial, Unity, Transformation & Healing Advisory Committee agrees, saying she wants to work with the city on actions that will have a “lasting impact” on improving the quality of life for Black people in Salisbury.

“The biggest thing is that we want the city to do more than just apologize,” she said. “This apology is that first step. And then we need to reconcile.”