University of Maryland band won’t play pro-Confederate state song

The marching band at the University of Maryland will stop playing the state song, which was was written as a battle hymn for the Confederacy during the Civil War, The Baltimore Sun reported on Monday.

A spokeswoman for the university said the school will “evaluate if it is consistent with the values of our institution at this time,” according to the newspaper.

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The song includes lyrics calling President Abraham Lincoln a despot and mentions “northern scum,” according to NBC Washington.

The decision to halt playing the song comes as Confederate statues and memorials face renewed scrutiny following the violence in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month.

White nationalists gathered to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. A man with ties to hate groups is accused of driving a car into a group of counterprotesters, killing a woman and injuring many others.