The Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery should be dismantled and removed from the cemetery, according to an independent commission’s final report to Congress with suggestions for renaming military bases and assets that commemorate the Confederacy.
The statue, which was unveiled in 1914 and features a bronze woman representing the South, is “problematic from top to bottom” and should be removed entirely, according to the report. The statue’s base also features shields with the coats of arms of the 13 Confederate states, as well as depictions of enslaved men and women.
FORT BRAGG, FORT HOOD, AND FORT LEE AMONG THE BASES A COMMISSION WANTS TO RENAME
The recommendations are part of a larger report by the commission that seeks to propose new names for Army bases and assets that commemorate the Confederacy. The Naming Commission is set to submit a three-part report to Congress by Oct. 1 that includes recommendations for all memorials, awards, scholarships, and “inactive, decommissioned, or obsolete assets,” according to the report.
The panel released its first section of the report in May that recommended new names for nine Army bases that commemorate Confederate officers, including Fort Bragg in North Carolina; Fort Benning and Fort Gordon in Georgia; Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Lee, and Fort Pickett in Virginia; Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Polk in Louisiana, and Fort Rucker in Alabama.
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The final cost to rename all the recommendations would be roughly $62.4 million, according to retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, who is the vice chairman of the commission. That amount includes changes to the Arlington Confederate Memorial, two Navy ships, nine Army bases, and more.
Military officials have long defended the names of assets that commemorate the Confederate South, arguing they do not signal support but rather preserve history. However, U.S. officials faced a renewed call to remove references to the Confederacy in the summer of 2020 as racial justice protests erupted nationwide.
