The United States Congress has chosen to treat carelessly, and take chances with, Confederate heritage.  We in the Arizona Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) feel that that is a risky approach for ALL American heritage.  If Congress and the American people take the same standards and “due process” that Congress used with Confederate heritage, and apply them to other groups in American society and other times in American history, many of our heroes and much of our heritage will end up being canceled.  So, as the Arizona SCV sees it, even the most ardent Yankee should be troubled by what Congress did.  All of us should tell Congress to stop dithering, stop dodging responsibility and fix the excessive, punitive things that were done to Confederate heritage.  No one, especially Congress, should play games with American heritage.

Background

            In 2020 the COVID and George Floyd murder crises unleashed turmoil throughout our country.  At the end of that year, Congress established a “Naming Commission.”  The commissioners were tasked with reviewing all symbols of Confederate heritage—base names, ship names, statues and plaques, etc…—on Department of Defense (DOD) property.  Their obvious intent was to remove many of those symbols.

            The Arizona SCV acknowledges that, in modern times, reasonable people can disagree as to whether U.S. military bases should be named for soldiers who fought for an army that was fighting United States troops.  We also acknowledge that, when the Naming Commission was first established, there were more Army bases named for Confederate generals that had lost the Civil War, than Union generals who had won it.

            Where the Naming Commission abused the public trust, was in the scope and the mean-spirited nature of their actions.

• The commission was biased.
  • Its chairman was Black. The Confederacy practiced slavery. No chairman or judge should have a conflict of interest. If, for example, a defendant in an American criminal court was charged with harming a police officer, and the judge chosen to hear the case came from a family of career police officers, wouldn’t you expect the defense attorney to ask that judge to recuse him/herself? 
  • Its vice chairman was a known, harsh critic of Confederate heritage.
• It was unnecessarily broad in its recommendations
  • It did much, much more than recommend some new base names. Its investigators scoured every DOD facility, looking for any name, picture, or other symbol that might reflect respect for the Confederacy or members of the Confederate army or navy.  Then, the commission recommended that virtually all of them be removed.  For example:
    • The U.S. Military Academy’s (USMA) Class of 1961 gifted a small park to the academy. It had carvings of Grant and Lee, and a series of plaques that commemorated the coming-together, after the Civil War, of Northern and Southern army officers.  It commemorated the post-war reconciliation of North and South—hence its name, Reconciliation Plaza.  The commission directed that Lee’s carving be removed, and that the wording of the plaques be scrutinized and changed, if any of the words were too favorable to Confederates.
    • USMA had a plaque with a quote from Robert E. Lee. The plaque identified Lee as a former USMA superintendent—which he was.  However, Naming Commission investigators determined that the words on the plaque came from a quote Lee made while he was in the Confederate army.  That plaque was targeted for removal.
    • There were streets on Fort A.P. Hill named for his wife and horse. Not anymore!
    • Commission investigators scrutinized the unit crests on modern-day Army uniforms. Many of the crests with a cross pattern on them were determined to be commemorations to the X pattern on the Confederate battle flag.  (Presumably the commission consulted the Scots, who have the same pattern on their national flag).  Those crests have been targeted for revision.
    • Some Army National Guard units had battle streamers that commemorated the unit’s service for their states, in the Confederate Army, during the Civil War. All of those streamers have been removed.
    • The National Ranger Memorial Foundations (NRMF) “Wall of Fame” at Fort Benning, Georgia, had John Mosby’s name on it. The commission called for it to be removed.
  • It was disrespectful and spiteful in its judgements.
    • The Preface to the commission’s Final Report shows no level of respect to people who served in the Confederate armed forces or communities in states that were part of the Confederacy. For example:
      • It declared that, “in every aspect and every respect,” the monuments communities erected after the Civil War to Confederate leaders and the Confederacy should be viewed as primarily honoring the “Lost Cause.”
      • It said that Congress has determined that no individual Confederates who voluntarily joined the Confederate forces warrant any commemoration from the Department of Defense.
    • The commission apparently decided that it was in a position to render judgement, on behalf of the Congress, on the overall, ongoing worth of Confederate heritage in American society.

Why Should You Care?

            The Civil War was over 160 years ago.  Arizona was not a major player in the war.  Many Arizonans’ ancestors arrived in this country long after the war ended.  Many other Arizonans’ ancestors came from Northern states, and many of those ancestors fought for the Union and loathed the Confederacy.  No one should be surprised if African-Americans never have, and will never have, any positive thoughts about Confederates.  The Arizona SCV stipulates to all of that.

            But all of those groups, and everyone else, should be troubled by how the commission operated, and how poorly Congress handled its recommendations.

• The commission essentially acted as a judge and jury, rendering sweeping judgements on the enduring worth of Confederate heritage in the American military. (The American military is one of the foundations of American society, so its treatment of Confederate heritage is going to influence treatment of Confederate heritage across our nation). Confederate heritage groups, such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans or the United Daughters of the Confederacy, did not have the opportunity to present a defense of Confederate heritage.  As we see it, the Confederate heritage community was tried by a Congressionally-created committee, without a defense attorney or a chance to cross-examine those people and groups who were condemning it.
• Congress did not debate the commission’s recommendations in a full, open floor debate of the House and Senate. Instead, the House and Senate Armed Services Committee held a virtual session, in the middle of the 2022 Congressional campaign.  As we understand it, Congress accepted ALL the commission’s recommendations, without questions.
• By the time most people in the Confederate heritage community realized how sweeping and mean-spirited the commission’s recommendations were, the commission had disbanded and the email contact for its press spokesman had been deactivated.
• Since January 2023, when the DOD first began implementing the commission’s recommendations, Members of Congress have steadfastly refused to explain why Congress supported the commission’s recommendations. This, sadly, includes several Arizona Members of Congress.  An important principle is at stake here:  Congress must explain and justify its actions to American citizens.  It is not OK for Members of Congress to stonewall, or “ghost,” constituents who have patiently and repeatedly asked for explanations of why Congress took a specific action.  Congress created the Naming Commission.  It must take responsibility for what it did.  More to the point, it should not dodge responsibility and accountability for what its own commission did.

How is Congress “Playing Games With American Heritage?”

            What makes me sad now is the ongoing game of Civilizational Jenga that our ruling class is playing.  One by one, they’re withdrawing the supports of civil society, in a process that will inevitably lead to a collapse.  They’re taking what was a very robust society, and consuming all the safety margins, bit by bit.

            Glenn Reynolds, a professor at the University of Tennessee Law School, wrote that on his Substack when the Arlington Confederate Memorial was dismantled in late 2023.  Reynolds described the memorial, otherwise known as the “Reconciliation Memorial”, as “a post Civil War memorial marking a return to American unity.”  He continued:

As David Strom writes: “Speaking practically, history has shown that even though the Southern states rose against the federal government, over the past century, our most patriotic and self-sacrificial defenders of our country have come from citizens of the South. Tearing down the reconciliation monument is spitting in the face of the memory of these citizens’ ancestors and a rejection of recognizing the complications in America’s history. It is, in other words, both offensive and stupid. I say this as an admirer of Lincoln’s cause and a strong opponent of the Southern ideology.”

Not far from my office is a memorial, erected by veterans of the Union and Confederate Armies, dedicated to a similar post-war reconciliation.  Will it go next?

If we are going to be as harsh and unforgiving with other aspects of American history, as the Naming Commission was with Confederate heritage, then we will end up with virtually no heritage at all. 

To paraphrase the old saying, this is Congress’ mess—it’s time for it to clean it up. 

Immediate (and Inexpensive) Things The Congress Can Do, NOW

• Return the Confederate battle streamers to Army National Guard unit colors
• Officially disassociate itself from offensive and divisive judgements made by the Naming Commission
• Hold an open hearing, which will allow:
  • The Confederate heritage community to defend itself
  • Naming Commission commissioners to explain, justify and defend their judgments
• Accept SCV offers to debate the Naming Commission’s actions and judgements in public. (One such offer has already gone out to Arizona Congressman David Schweikert).