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| AP Photo/Chris Seward |
The push to sever all ties between the U.S. armed forces and the legacy of the Confederacy has reached new heights, with critics this week demanding that military facilities across the nation rename streets and dorms, take down plaques and make other necessary changes to erase the Confederate legacy from the modern military.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on Wednesday released a list of what it says are 64 Confederate-linked names and symbols at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, the Virginia Military Institute and The Citadel military academy in South Carolina.
The SPLC’s latest list comes as a Pentagon panel reviews military facilities, vehicles, ships and other landmarks named after prominent Confederate generals. The effort — which former President Trump vehemently opposed — began as a look at 10 Army bases that bear the name of famous Confederate officers such as Robert E. Lee and Braxton Bragg. But the review process has expanded significantly amid outside pressure from the SPLC and other groups.
“Symbols of white supremacy should never have been associated with the military because they glorify a system of racial oppression and exclusion,” SPLC Chief of Staff Lecia Brooks said in a statement Wednesday. “The presence of these dehumanizing and oppressive displays and symbols is directly linked to white supremacist activity in the military. … Until a more inclusive military is established, this country cannot honestly work towards a more equitable American landscape.”
Mr. Trump argued that changing the base names was an attempt to rewrite American history and that such sites as Fort Bragg and Fort Hood had a legacy beyond their Confederate namesakes. --->READ MORE HERE
The South Carolina Supreme Court heard its first challenge to the state law protecting Confederate and other historical monuments.
The South Carolina Supreme Court heard its first challenge to the state law protecting Confederate and other historical monuments since it passed 21 years ago with justices questioning Tuesday if parts or all of the act are constitutional.
The Heritage Act was passed in 2000 to move the Confederate flag which then flew atop the Statehouse dome to a pole in front of the Capitol. As part of the compromise, it also required a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly to tear down, move or alter any other historical monument or structure.
Opposition to that high bar has popped up periodically, as colleges have been unable to change the names of buildings named for avowed racists and the city of Greenwood had to go to court to remove “colored” from a plaque honoring World War I soldiers. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to related stories:
Giant Confederate Monument Will Remain at Revamped Stone Mountain
Inside a Black Alabaman’s fight to remove a Confederate statue
LSU has no plans to change its mascot despite online petition
The rise and fall of Arkansas' Confederate monuments
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