Belief vs. History

The Naming Commission provides a preface to their final report that attempts to justify changing names of forts and ridding the military of references to the Confederacy. They spend significant time on commemoration and history.

“Although Americans owe much of their modern identity to the Civil War, they do not owe equal commemoration to both sides. Though often conflated, commemoration and history come from all sections of our society and serve different purposes for different people.”

If you subscribe to this, then you likely believe secession was illegal in 1860/61 and the war was caused by slavery. Those are beliefs. There is too much evidence to the contrary to say they are history. It is not history to say the South was wrong and the North was right. It is a belief.

“The best commemorations highlight individuals, movements and moments that epitomize the highest values of our present and motivate us as we shape our societies of the future.”

This is somewhat of a straw man but let’s go with it. They said: “commemoration and history come from all sections of our society and serve different purposes for different people.” If that is the case, then Fort Hood makes perfect since. He commanded the famous “Texas brigade”. The fort is in Texas and there are millions of people across the country who love the fact there is a Ft. Hood. As a military leader and a 19th century man he has as many admirable traits as any Union general.

“Changing what is commemorated, however, is not the equivalent of erasing history.”

This is untrue but not in the way it seems. It does not erase 19th century Civil War history. It erases the history of why the fort was named for a Confederate. The history that describes reconciliation and choices that led to Southern heroes being commemorated. A time when history was complicated and nuanced. Where one side did not have to be right and the other evil.

“Commemorations should evoke our past and inspire our future. The United States communicates through its commemoration, conferring honor upon people from our past whose lives or actions articulate the values we strive to uphold.”

Who is the arbiter of values and commemorations? This is Orwellian nonsense. Many scholars on the left and the right agree Lincoln violated the Constitution. He had many values we abhor today. Is the Lincoln Memorial next?