The surname of the Confederate leader is back at the Army base as the military finds other service members with the same surname

Now there is the same foundation of them Return to original nameThis time, with various names that share Confederate surnames – the military found other service members to honor the same surname.

The move has sparked conversations both inside and outside the military circle. Skeptics wonder if the true intention is to undermine efforts to separate from the Confederate Association. This is long-divided people who prefer to maintain the aspects of Southern heritage and those who want disempowered courage to support slavery.

Mark Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, a civil rights group, said the latest name change was “an indistinguishable difference.”

Sweeping away names given by the Biden administration, honoring service members, many of which are women or minority, is the latest move by Defense Secretary Pete Hegses. Purge of cards Of all programs, policies, books and social media, we mention references to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Neither the Department of Defense nor the War Department responded to email requests for comment.

The Confederate names are back

Federal law now prohibits the military from returning to Confederate respect, but this move is restoring what has been known by soldiers for generations. After the election of President Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the expansion of slavery, 11 southern states maintained slavery to maintain slavery to form Confederate or American Confederate states. Their departure led to the Civil War, and the Confederates were eventually lost in 1865.

“They are trying to get smooth,” Morial said by restoring old names with soldiers and figures that were not Confederate.

For example, it was changed to Fort Liberty, Fort Bragg in North Carolina. By the Biden administrationfirst restored the original name in June. The Army found another American service member with the same surname, a WWII soldier. Hegseth signed an order to restore names in February.

“By calling the name of a private Roland Bragg of a WWII soldier instead, Secretary Hegses has not violated the letter of law, but he is violating that spirit,” wrote Dr. Jack Reid, a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a statement opposed to the Secretary of Defense’s “cynical moneyber.”

In March, Hegseth overturned changes to its 2023 decision Fort Benning In Georgia Fort Moore.

The restoration process of the same name applies to seven additional bases: Fort Pickett and Fort Robert E. Lee, Fort Gordon, Georgia, Fort Hood, Texas, Fort Polk in Louisiana, Fort Racker, Alabama.

Other name changes

Last week, Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced that he was restoring the name of the state’s largest National Guard training site.

In a social media post that announced her name, Landry wrote in Louisiana, “We respect the courage to not cancel it.” The attached one seemed to be an Ai-generated image of a tombstone with the word “awakening.”

“This will be a lesson that we should always respect history and not be swift to easily condemn or erase death so that we and our times are not judged as arbitrary volition by future generations,” Landry writes.

Renamed military assets are not the base. In late June, Heggs announced that USNS Harvey Milk would be renamed after a World War II sailor who was awarded the Medal of Honor. Name of a gay rights activist who was killed Those who served during the Korean War.

Critics have expressed concern over Confederate associations and inefficiency

Morial said there are other ways to recognize heroes who are not even known, rather than returning the base based on names that have long been associated with Confederate leaders.

“Counties on Earth don’t name them based on the military after those who tried to overthrow the government,” Morial said. “So why do people hold on to these names?”

Stacey Rosenberg, an associate professor at Heinz University at Carnegie Mellon University, said he was interested in the efficiency of changing the base’s name. She said the cost of changing the sign across seven bases could be used for something else that could have a more impact.

There is no immediate cost estimate for changing all indicators on the base.

Rosenberg said it makes sense to leave Confederate heroes by name, but the latest move seems like a way to appeal to Trump’s political foundations.

“What we really need to consider is no one named after having such a service record that guarantees the honor of naming that base?” Rosenberg said.

Angela Betancourt, a public relations strategist for the Betancourt Group and a reserve for the US Air Force, said the ongoing renaming of military bases is a form of the brand of what each administration should represent.

She understands why people are mad at military bases returning to names relating to Confederate forces, but Betancourt said they should not take away the new legacy and legacy of the same name.

“That doesn’t mean it’s not a good thing,” Betankort said. “It’s true that heroes, especially African Americans and diverse heroes, should be respected. I think this is a good way to do it.”

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Associated Press reporters Lolita C. Balder, John Hannah and Sarah Klein contributed to the report.