TOWSON, Md. — On Saturday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan posthumously pardoned 34 victims of racially motivated lynchings.
Gov. Hogan said the victims were denied legal due process against the allegations they faced.
One of those victims was Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old Black boy who was convicted of assault and rape by an all-white jury after less than a minute of deliberation. He was dragged from his cell by 75 masked men, and hanged while waiting on an appeal.
"There was nothing equal, just or lawful about the way the Howard Cooper's life was taken," Gov. Hogan said.
He's right.
Hear me out:
Nothing can undo the horrific injustices of the 40 documented lynchings in Maryland, and the more than 3,000 lynchings of African Americans across the U.S. from 1882 to 1968.
This is long overdue, but good to see, as an acknowledgement of a painful part of our country's history.
Two years ago, state lawmakers created the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It was the first of its kind in the United States.
Saturday was a product of the commission.
Hogan became the first governor in American history to issue several posthumous pardons for victims of lynchings at once.
Our country has a long way to go to right the many wrongs in our nation's history.
This is a start, and it's good to see one of our local governors leading the way