Re: [Marxism] ‘A Slap in the Face’: Black Veterans on Bases Named for Confederates
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. * 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
[Marxism] ‘A Slap in the Face’: Black Veterans on Bases Named for Confederates
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
