The Trump administration’s attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs are often explained as being about high-minded philosophies concerning not engaging in identity-based metrics and/or being just about “merit.” Instead, they are really about resetting the baseline of “normal” back to straight white male.
To wit, via Military.com: Hegseth Orders Navy to Strip Name of Gay Rights Icon Harvey Milk from Ship.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming a ship, one that bears the name of a gay rights icon, documents and sources show.
Military.com reviewed a memorandum from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy — the official who holds the power to name Navy ships — that showed the sea service had come up with rollout plans for the renaming of the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk.
A defense official confirmed that the Navy was making preparations to strip the ship of its name but noted that Navy Secretary John Phelan was ordered to do so by Hegseth. The official also said that the timing of the announcement — occurring during Pride month — was intentional.
The last bit there is the blatant confirmation of what is going on here. This is “owning the libs” and purposefully trying to offend the LBGTQ+ community because they can.
…the memo reviewed by Military.com noted that the renaming was being done so that there is “alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing the warrior culture,” apparently referencing President Donald Trump, Hegseth and Phelan.
Side note: I am oh so very weary of all this “warrior culture” stuff. This is a child’s view of the military.
CBS News has more: Navy set to rename USNS Harvey Milk, mulls new names for other ships named for civil rights leaders.
The documents obtained by CBS News also show other vessels named after prominent leaders are also on the Navy’s renaming “recommended list.”
Among them are the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, USNS Harriet Tubman, USNS Dolores Huerta, USNS Lucy Stone, USNS Cesar Chavez and USNS Medgar Evers.
CBS News found that a December 2024 web article from Naval Sea Systems Command about the laying of the keel for the future USNS Thurgood Marshall has been deleted.
When Thurgood Marshall and Harriet Tubman (!) are considered too woke to have ships named after them, it sends a clear message about the values of the people making these decisions.*
Just in case I need to be explicit. Thurgood Marshall, the first Black member of the Supreme Court, was a major civil rights advocate who argued Brown v. Board of Education in front of the Court as an attorney.
Harriet Tubman helped run the Underground Railroad for crying out loud.
Perhaps SecTough Hegseth doesn’t think these are warriory enough names, but it seems to me that what you name your ships after should reflect the values that are being fought for. I would hasten to add that if US military personnel are half as courageous and resourceful as Marshall, Tubman, and Milk in a fight, that should put fear in the hearts of any battlefield adversary.
A lot of this feels like “owning the libs” because they took confederate names off of any number of things.
Not only is “owning” anyone a childish and immature thing to do, it is unbecoming of someone with as serious a job as the one Hegseth has. But let me note this.
The libs wanted Robert E. Lee’s name off of things because he was the military commander of a rebellion against the United States and the US Constitution in service of setting up a new country built on the foundation that chattel slavery must be preserved.
The libs wanted to name a fleet replenishment oiler after Harvey Milk because he fought for the rights of his fellow human beings and was assassinated for the effort.
The libs wanted to name vessels after people like Tubman because they fought to end chattel slavery, and for Marshall because he fought for equal rights and treatment for all.
If you want to be on the side that wants to erase such honors, all the while really looking to make sure Jefferson Davis continues to get his day in the sun,** you have to at some point ask if maybe you are the baddies.
I know that putting it this way will cause a lot of people to reflexively get their backs up, but if they have some logically and morally defensible position for renaming a ship named after a gay rights icon purposefully during Pride Month, I’m all ears.
I will say this much for sure: what we are seeing here is not some subtle, nuanced argument about merit and being colorblind or whatever rationalizations will be given. Again, it is a clear attempt to recast what “normal” is, which is straight white male.
*The whole list is shameful, but for the sake of space, I concentrate here on Marshall and Tubman.
**Davis’ birthday is June 3rd, so on Monday of this week, June 2: Alabama state offices closed Monday for Confederate holiday
Davis’ birthday is one of three holidays in Alabama that commemorate Confederate leaders: Robert E. Lee’s birthday, which is commemorated in January on the same day as Martin Luther King Day; Confederate Memorial Day in April; and Davis’s birthday in June.
Mississippi and Florida also still observe Davis’ birthday. You know, to celebrate southern “heritage.”
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Author: Steven L. Taylor
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