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email Confederate Military Base Names Just Met Their Gettysburg
A Black admiral, a gruff Marine, a never-Trumper, and the maker of a viral video slamming Confederate sympathizers? Say goodbye to “Fort Bragg” and the rest.
Say goodbye to Fort Bragg. And Forts Benning, Lee, Hood, and all the other U.S. military installations named for Confederates from the Civil War.
On Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the four people who will replace Trump administration appointees on a Congressionally mandated commission to study base renaming. It will be interesting to see what this esteemed group comes up with, but let’s be real: this is now an exercise for show. Start thinking up some new names while you read on.
In a memo to senior Pentagon leadership explaining the review, Mr. Austin sought to quickly put his stamp on the Defense Department by ordering a first-of-its-kind restructuring.
“I am aware of and appreciate earlier review efforts to reshape how we use advisory committees and consider the tangible benefits they bring to the department. Nevertheless, I am directing a zero-based review of all DoD advisory committees, to include any advisory committee that is not subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act,” he wrote in the Jan. 30 memo made public Tuesday.
To reform and streamline the board system, Mr. Austin believes it best to essentially start from scratch, Pentagon officials told reporters Tuesday. The operations of all 42 advisory boards will be temporarily suspended as the review process unfolds, and all members with the exception of individuals who were directly appointed by the president must resign by Feb. 16 or face termination.
Two Hispanic Congressmen want Trump loyalists removed from Army base renaming group Demopolis, Alabama/USA-June 5, 2020: Marengo County Confederate monument erected in 1910 during the height of Jim Crow Laws in the South. This once had a statue of a Confederate soldier on top.
Shutterstock/ JNix Ignore the slippery slope propaganda in the debate over monuments to white supremacy
Two Hispanic congressmen are taking the initiative to request that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin remove any Trump loyalists from the Confederate renaming panel.
Since the commission is in place to identify Confederate monuments for removal and to issue recommendations on how to rename the bases, the congressmen are not confident that Trump-era commissioners, who appear to have very little interest in diversity and inclusion, possess the capacity needed to forward the commission s agenda, according to Axios.