(recently overheard conversation between “we the people” and their “sacred cows”).Contrary to the sea of red herrings choking the National conversation on the Confederate flag, the debate over iconic language referencing the Confederacy isn’t about personal characters flaws. By that measure, all portraits of JFK would have come down long ago when the feminist movement surged. It’s a public debate about what will and will not be tolerated by the public with regards to the iconic language used by our public institutions.
The Confederate flag is a blatant symbol of disrespect towards the notion of the United States. I can’t imagine any scenario where it is appropriately displayed using public funds, State or Federal. That’s just me, I’m just one small voice.
The debate over the naming of military facilities after Confederate generals is much larger and uglier with a lot of green on the line, which is why it will probably be steadfastly ignored for decades as being undeserving of debate.
The conferring of honor upon Confederate Generals is a blatant hypocritical slap in the face of every service member that has ever taken the oath. The Confederate Generals consistently forsook their oath to the Union in order to pledge their allegiance to their respective states as participants in a Confederation of separate states allied against that Union. The the primary purpose of the Confederacy is well documented to have been for the purpose of defending the institution of slavery. That is what these figures represent. They represent this military conduct within this ideology from a historical perspective, and from a military perspective.
This is really not how duty and service is defined nor regarded by the military anywhere, but I’m not a historian. And it’s not how I understand contemporary service in the US.. For the entire military institution to overlook the context and circumstance of their service, and the fact that they followed a moral authority not of a higher order, but a lower and more emotional order, to follow their personal preferences and their economic interests in defense of the subjugation of other humans goes against everything that this country demands of its service members in this day and age.
For whatever the reasons behind naming facilities after these generals (and practical reasons have been repeatedly cited), when you become aware of a wrong, you should be accountable to it and correct course. I don’t see that happening, I don’t see an accountable conversation about, I see denial and contempt for the principle of public approval. The public is considered to be broader and more diverse than the graduates of West Point.
I am not a historian, but I am a citizen, and I do expect a higher level of accountability from DoD on the topic of accountability representing the multi-faceted culture that is the contemporary US.