Anne Arundel County Executive Stuart Pittman issued a formal apology on November 11, 2023, for the county government’s role in slavery and the lasting harm it inflicted. This announcement took place during an event at Maryland Hall, where Pittman emphasized the importance of acknowledging the past. He stated, “We collectively offer our inadequate but deeply felt apology that has for 160 years been withheld and pledged to never allow this history or this acknowledgment to be forgotten.”
The apology was part of a broader discussion on the historical context of slavery in Anne Arundel County. Speakers highlighted how both slavery and subsequent governmental actions have shaped the lives of Black residents in the area. Pittman remarked on the absence of apologies and reparations in the United States, noting, “It has absolutely been missing in Anne Arundel County.”
The county’s acknowledgment is part of a larger movement, with several institutions, including The City of Annapolis and The Baltimore Sun, also recognizing their ties to slavery. During the event, historical advertisements from The Baltimore Sun, which sold enslaved individuals, were displayed alongside documents and artwork celebrating the contributions of the Black community in the county.
Before Pittman’s remarks, Chris Haley, director of the Study of Legacy Slavery in Maryland for the Maryland State Archives, provided insights into the county’s history. He noted that slave ships entered the United States through both Annapolis and London Town. Between 1790 and 1860, approximately half of Maryland’s population was of African American descent. Following emancipation, systemic discrimination against Black residents continued, including the allowance of lynchings, with at least five recorded in Anne Arundel.
The legacy of discrimination is starkly illustrated by the former Crownsville Hospital, located just a short drive from Annapolis. This facility used Black patients for labor and experimental purposes, with many buried in unmarked graves. The Old Fourth Ward in Annapolis, once a thriving Black neighborhood, was demolished to make way for parking lots and government buildings.
Haley urged attendees to explore this history, stating, “If you want to know more, look more, search more, for this is not only our history or their history. It is our history.”
In his emotional address, Pittman reflected on his own family’s history, acknowledging that his ancestor, Dr. George Hume Steuart, who arrived from Scotland in the 1700s, benefited from enslaved labor in the tobacco industry. Pittman lives on property purchased by his ancestor in 1747, and he expressed a desire to connect with individuals whose ancestry traces back to the land he occupies. “Those things are very hard to find. Black history has been erased, and it was done deliberately,” he stated.
Pittman had announced his intention to apologize last month. Due to high demand, the event was moved to a larger venue. There was some confusion regarding the origins of the apology, with initial communications attributing the request to the NAACP and the Caucus of African American Leaders. However, at a county council meeting on November 10, NAACP President Stephen Waddy clarified that the organization did not request the apology and asked to be removed from communications about the event. Waddy referred to the apology as “performative” and “more political.”
Conversely, Carl Snowden, convener of the Caucus of African American Leaders, confirmed that he had indeed requested the apology from Pittman. “He understood that if this county is to be the best county for all, it had to reflect all of its people,” Snowden noted. He emphasized the significance of acknowledging the past, stating, “All of the great problems that exist in our nation can be solved by a simple apology; anyone who knows anything about history knows that it must start somewhere.”
Pittman’s apology marks a significant step in addressing historical injustices and highlights the ongoing need for dialogue and understanding regarding the legacy of slavery in the United States.