Confederate Generals Don't Deserve BK Street Names, Lawmakers Say

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Two streets at a Brooklyn military base should not bear the names of Confederate generals who fought for slavery, lawmakers argued.

Rename Stonewall Jackson Drive and General Lee Avenue within Fort Hamilton, wrote Brooklyn Congressman Max Rose and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke on Thursday.

"U.S. military bases and property should be named after men and women who’ve served our nation with honor and distinction, not sought to tear it apart to uphold white supremacy," they wrote. "And American servicemembers deserve to serve on bases that honor their ancestor’s contributions to our nation, not those who fought to hold those same ancestors in bondage. Our Armed Forces should not honor men who divided this country in the cause of slavery."

Rose and Clarke's letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper comes amid a growing movement against Confederate and racist monuments in the country and world following the killing of George Floyd.

Several U.S. cities took down Confederate statues. NASCAR banned Confederate flags at its events.

And crowds in Bristol, England, recently hurled a slave trader's statue into a harbor in a show of solidarity with Black Lives Matter protests.

U.S. military leaders expressed openness to renaming bases that bear Confederate names, but that appeared to hit a snag after opposition from President Donald Trump.

"These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom," he tweeted.

It has been suggested that we should rename as many as 10 of our Legendary Military Bases, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, etc. These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020

The Confederate states seceded from the United States and sparked the Civil War on the "cornerstone" that black people are not equal to white people, as said by Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens. They lost the Civil War and slavery was abolished. Racism, however, continues.

Clarke, who represents Crown Heights in addition to neighborhoods near Fort Hamilton, has long fought to have the Confederate streets on the base renamed.

They bear the names of General Robert E. Lee, who commanded the Confederate forces during the Civil War, and Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, a top Confederate general. Lee was stationed at Fort Hamilton before the Civil War.

Clarke and Rose suggested the streets should instead be named after African American heroes who fought to uphold the principle that "all men are created equal."

"The streets of Fort Hamilton should be named after brave men and women who fought for our country and its values, not those who opposed them," they wrote.

2020.06.11 Fort Hamilton Re... by Matt Troutman on Scribd