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I have to be honest for a second. As much as I have no love for Confederate generals, I also have no love for military bases regardless of what names are given, nor for any of the other legions of racists that preceded the Confederacy in U.S. history. While I think the neo-Confederates and Trumpists are trying to rally around Confederate kitsch to defend white supremacy I think it is equally questionable how sincere the opposing camp is to claim they are motivated primarily by "anti-racism". A really anti-racist proposal would not involve renaming the bases. It would involve decommissioning them altogether -- particularly Fort Benning which is where the notorious School of Americas operates. That being said I know these performative stunts are appealing to people and I suppose there is no harm, so... Amith R. Gupta On Thu, Jun 11, 2020 at 5:17 PM Louis Proyect via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > NY Times, June 11, 2020 > ‘A Slap in the Face’: Black Veterans on Bases Named for Confederates > By Jennifer Steinhauer > > WASHINGTON — When Timothy Berry was recruiting black students for West > Point, where he served as class president in 2013, he often reflected on > his senior year, when he lived in the Robert E. Lee barracks. It > bothered him then; it bothers him now. > > “I was trying to tell black and brown students that they would have a > home there,” said Mr. Berry, who served as an Army captain with the > 101st Airborne Division from 2013 to 2018. “It sent a very strong mixed > message.” > > For many black service members, who make up about 17 percent of all > active-duty military personnel, the Pentagon’s decision to consider > renaming Army bases bearing the names of Confederate officers seems > excruciatingly overdue. Generations of black service members signed up > for the military to defend the values of their country, only to be > assigned to bases named after people who represent its grimmest hour. > > “It is really kind of a slap in the face to those African-American > soldiers who are on bases named after generals who fought for their > cause,” said Jerry Green, a retired noncommissioned officer who trained > at Ft. Bragg, N.C., which is named for a Confederate general, Braxton > Bragg. “That cause was slavery.” > > There are 10 major Army installations named for generals who led > Confederate troops — all in the former states of the Confederacy — as > well as many streets and buildings on military academy campuses that are > among at least 1,500 symbols of the Confederacy in public spaces in the > United States. > > The push to rename military installations and place names is not new, > and it is one that black service members and veterans, as well as groups > including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored > People, have largely pursued. > > The movement this week seemed to attract a growing consensus, including > among former senior military officials of all races, before President > Trump declared on Wednesday that he would block any of those 10 bases > from being renamed. > > A petition by the liberal group VoteVets received over 20,000 signatures > in 24 hours urging the military to ban Confederate symbols and rename > Army bases, a spokesman for the organization said. In a poll conducted > this week and released Thursday by the group, 47 percent of 935 > registered voters surveyed said they would support the removal of > Confederate imagery across the entire military. > > The Marine Corps issued a ban last week on displays of the Confederate > battle flag at its installations, and the chief of naval operations, > Adm. Michael M. Gilday, wrote on Twitter Tuesday that he had directed > his staff to “begin crafting an order” banning such displays from public > spaces and work areas on bases, ships, aircraft and submarines. Leaders > in the Army have called for bipartisan commissions to explore changing > the names of some its installations. > > “The unique thing about this moment is that white friends and colleagues > now see this,” said Mr. Berry, who lives in New York. > > After a white supremacist rally in 2017 in Charlottesville, Va., turned > deadly when a man drove into a crowd of counterprotesters, and after a > white police officer fatally shot a black teenager in Ferguson, Mo., in > 2014, “these were conversations that black officers were having among > themselves,” he said. “It was not an open conversation among their white > peers.” > > The fights over statues and Confederate flags in public places have > bubbled up often over the years, with their defenders repeatedly > suggesting that banning or removing those items would be akin to erasing > history. > > In 2015, shortly after a white supremacist killed black parishioners in > a church in Charleston, S.C., a budget bill in Congress almost failed > amid an ugly floor fight in which Democrats, led by black lawmakers from > the South, beat back a push by Republicans to allow Confederate symbols > at national cemeteries. > > This week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi once again called for the removal from > the Capitol of 11 statues of Confederate figures, including Jefferson > Davis and Robert E. Lee, the latest salvo in a yearslong battle. On > Thursday, two veterans in the House also introduced bipartisan > legislation to create a process to rename military installations named > for Confederates within a year. The Senate Armed Services Committee > separately advanced a similar measure with a three-year timeline. > > “I have been in every one of those barracks,” said Stephane Manuel, > another West Point graduate who served in the Army from 2011 to 2017. “I > studied in them and had friends there. I didn’t like it. The military > hasn’t wanted to reconcile that the Confederate forces were traitors. I > always felt from the mere moral standpoint of what they were fighting > for went against what West Point stands for today.” > > On his deployments, the topic would come up now and then, Mr. Manuel > said, often leaving him uncomfortable as his white colleagues defended > the practice. > > “I felt it was best not to be political,” he said, noting that his > experiences led him to establish an education technology start-up, > TrueFiktion, which uses comics to tell “the untold stories of > marginalized groups.” “I was often one of the few black officers. I felt > it was better to leave my perspective at home.” > > For some middle-age and older veterans, particularly noncommissioned > offices like Mr. Green, who retired from the Army in 1998, the > realization of their indignities came later. > > “It wasn’t anything that stayed on my mind and I think that was because > I was young,” he said. “I don’t ever remember ever having a conversation > about it when I was on active duty. With my veteran friends, it later > came more to light that African-American veterans were upset about it > and it kind of enlightened me, too.” > > Soldiers at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. The base is named for Braxton > Bragg, a Confederate general.Credit...Bryan Woolston/Reuters > Daniele Anderson, a former Navy officer who graduated in 2013 from the > service’s academy in Annapolis, Md., and went on to serve until 2018, > recalled how a professor at the school — later removed for other > behaviors — wrote an Op-Ed that denigrated students from the military > prep schools, who were disproportionately people of color. Leadership > conferences rarely featured minority speakers. In her junior year, Ms. > Anderson said, she was in charge of events for Black History Month, and > found that the posters she put up around campus were frequently ripped > down. “I was told by fellow classmates that was a regular occurrence > during Black History Month,” she said. > > “There was always an underlying anxiety and the feeling that you have to > always be alert and choosing your words carefully and not wanting to > seem like you were playing the race card,” she said. “That really messed > with a lot of black and minority students’ confidence. I think this > social anxiety we have to navigate all the time really did contribute to > lower performance.” > > Like others interviewed for this article, Ms. Anderson said the events > of the last week made her cautiously optimistic that the military would > view the fight over removing Confederate names and symbols as an > opportunity to look deeper at its broader culture. > > “In the military, we have treated ourselves as if we are separate from > society,” she said. “We have to know and understand that the military is > part of society, because we draw our people from society, and we look at > and listen to the same things as our civilian counterparts do.” > > As a black veteran, she said, “I am in a unique position of being able > to say, ‘Hey, I went to this institution, I made great sacrifices to do > so, and we are calling on these institutions so they can be the best > versions of themselves.’ ” > > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/amithrgupta%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
