The Marines have ordered the removal of Confederate flags from their bases; the Army has expressed openness to the idea of renaming bases named after Confederate generals; and now, the Navy has joined in with its own performative gesture.
CNN reports that an order is being crafted to ensure the removal of all Confederate iconography from Navy institutions.
“The Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Gilday, has directed his staff to begin crafting an order that would prohibit the Confederate battle flag from all public spaces and work areas aboard Navy installations, ships, aircraft and submarines,” Cmdr. Nate Christensen, Gilday’s spokesperson, said in a statement.
Initially, U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley expressed openness to holding bipartisan discussions to rename approximately a dozen military bases named after Confederate generals—but President Trump shut that shit down with the quickness, though.
While these are cute gestures, until the military makes active efforts to combat white nationalism within its ranks, the gestures will ring hollow.
