Department of Defense’s Retreat to Confederate Names Is a Betrayal of American Values

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“Why wouldn’t we want to name it after the great heroes that we do have in the U.S. Army? They reflect the best of America. Inspirational people with inspirational stories.”

— Brigadier General Ty Seidule (Ret.), former vice chairman of the Naming Commission

In 2020, as the nation reckoned with systemic racism in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, the U.S. Department of Defense took a long-overdue step: initiating the process to rename military bases that bore the names of Confederate generals—men who fought to preserve slavery and divide the Union.

This was not a symbolic gesture. It was a deliberate act to honor the values of unity, equality, and democratic service over the legacy of white supremacy. That progress is now under threat.

Reports that the Department of Defense is considering—or being pressured into—reverting to Confederate names is more than a policy shift. It is a moral failure, a capitulation to revisionist history and the weaponization of nostalgia.

These bases, from Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty) to Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos), were renamed not to erase history, but to correct the record. These installations train and house a multiracial, multiethnic force of patriots. To ask them to salute the names of men who waged war against the United States—who fought and died to preserve human bondage—is not just offensive. It is indefensible.

Let’s be clear: Confederate names do not reflect “Southern heritage.” They reflect a legacy of racial terror, of rebellion against the United States Constitution, and of treason cloaked in mythology. Keeping those names is not about honoring history. It is about choosing which history to honor.

This retreat fits into a disturbing pattern. From school boards banning books about race to corporations quietly walking back diversity commitments, there’s a coordinated effort to roll back even the most modest steps toward racial equity. And this rollback is rarely framed honestly. It hides behind rhetoric about “tradition,” “neutrality,” or “not being divisive”—as if honoring Black service members and rejecting white supremacy is somehow controversial.

The National Urban League calls on the administration and the Department of Defense to stand firm. Do not reverse course. Do not dishonor the generations of Black, Latino, Native, and Asian American troops who have served under the American flag—not the Confederate one.

This is not a fringe issue. It’s a frontline battle in the struggle for truth, equity, and a truly unified nation.

We’ve already seen how quickly progress can be unraveled. But we’ve also seen what happens when communities, advocates, and leaders refuse to accept silence and backsliding as the status quo.

History will remember what we chose to honor in this moment.

 
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