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Morgan State U. demolishes historical ‘spite wall’ built to segregate campus from the city

A wall built decades ago to separate Black students from the area’s white community was torn down on April 11, 2023 at Morgan State University. (Paul Newson/The Baltimore Banner)
Paul Newson/The Baltimore Banner
A wall built decades ago to separate Black students from the area’s white community was torn down on April 11, 2023 at Morgan State University.

To most Baltimore residents, the red brick wall that bordered the old Northwood Plaza shopping center and extended partway up Hillen Road was just that — a wall. An old, crumbling wall, covered in graffiti, that has deteriorated over the years and has become an eyesore in the northeast Baltimore community. But for Morgan State University, the wall was a painful reminder of the hate against Black people that’s all too familiar for historically Black colleges.

As of Tuesday morning, the wall — which became known as the “spite wall” — that was built on hate and oppression was reduced to rubble, symbolizing that Morgan is moving forward, as president David Wilson put it.

“Hate comes tumbling down,” Wilson said as he watched an excavator demolish the remnants of the wall. For Wilson, who has been university president for 13 years, the wall coming down is Morgan’s way of revisiting a not-so-glorious history.

The story continues at the Baltimore Banner: Morgan State U. demolishes historical ‘spite wall’ built to segregate campus from the city

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