BALTIMORE (AP) — The city of Baltimore has removed a statue of an Irish-born slave-owning merchant from a square in the waterfront neighborhood he founded in 1786.
The statue of Capt. John O’Donnell was removed from his namesake park in Canton Monday night.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said he's committed to addressing many more symbols that reflect a legacy of racism.
Tonight, the hostile vestige to the notorious enslaver Captain John O’Donnell no longer stands in Canton Square. This is a historical moment and I am committed to dismantling structural oppression in Baltimore.
— Brandon M. Scott (@MayorBMScott) April 6, 2021
Read my full statement: https://t.co/6yW0adpQlf pic.twitter.com/MfJnW7Wxfh
O’Donnell was a seafaring merchant who got rich trading goods from China.
He bought about 2,000 acres along the Baltimore waterfront, forced dozens of slaves to create a plantation and named the area Canton after the Chinese port city.