As the Marine Corps officially bans all confederate paraphernalia from its installations, the Army is again being asked when or if it will ever change the names of 10 installations with confederate ties.
The Marine Corps first announced it would ban all confederate paraphernalia from its installations and personnel back at the end of February. In late April, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger published a lengthy letter via Twitter explaining his decision.
Confederate paraphernalia banned on Marine Corps basesThe Marine Corps Commandant wrote a lengthy letter about banning the confederate flag
"In every facet of every significant endeavor involving Marines, the team has been the primary component," the letter reads. "We are a warfighting organization, an elite institution of warriors who depend on each other to win the tough battles. Anything that divides us, anything that threatens team cohesion must be addressed head-on."
One of those "divisive" threats, Berger wrote, is the Confederate flag.
The Marine Corps is now being praised for being ahead of the curve, so to speak, on combatting racism within the ranks as service chiefs have begun to speak out in acknowledgment of racial injustices across the Department of Defense.
The military has its own lessons to learn about racial justice, leaders say
But the Army still does not intend to follow the Marine Corps's lead.
In response to national unrest and a New York Times article published over Memorial Day Weekend accusing the military of celebrating white supremacy, the question again has risen -- why does the Army still have installations named for confederate military commanders?
Ten of the Army's installations across the country are named for confederates including Fort Lee, Fort Hood, Fort Benning, Fort Gordon, Fort Bragg, Fort Polk, Fort Pickett, Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Rucker, and Camp Beauregard.
As recently as late February, when the Marine Corps first announced its ban on confederate paraphernalia, the Army reiterated that it had no intention of changing the names of these installations.
“We have no plans to rename any street or installation, including those named for Confederate generals,” an Army spokesperson said at the time.
As tensions across the country continue in response to racial injustices, the Army is again being called upon to make a change.
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Reach Elizabeth Howe on Twitter @ECBHowe.
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