U.S. Military Should Lead the Way in Disavowing Confederate Imagery

U.S. Military Should Lead the Way in Disavowing Confederate Imagery
Protesters hold a sign during a rally to take down the Confederate flag at the South Carolina Statehouse, Columbia, S.C., June 23, 2015 (AP photo by Rainier Ehrhardt).

Even though the United States was founded on the idea that all people have inalienable rights, applying that principle to all Americans has been a long, still-incomplete struggle played out in multiple arenas, including the U.S. military. Over the past 75 years, the armed forces have been used to advance this cause several times. Presidents found the military a valuable tool in the expansion of rights and the construction of a more unified society because it could be ordered to accept change to an extent that the rest of society could not. The military also tended to judge its members less on personal attributes than on their ability to contribute to the team.

One example of the military’s contribution to expanding rights was its role in ending racial segregation. In 1948, then-President Harry Truman ordered the military to implement “equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin” long before the rest of society embraced that idea. More recently the military has played an important role in expanding opportunities for women and in accepting homosexual service members.

Now the United States again is entering another great debate on rights that the military can and should play a major role in: expunging America of its sordid tradition of glorifying the Confederacy.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review