The US Navy has announced it is banning the display of the Confederate battle flag, as pressure mounts to remove symbols associated with racism and white supremacy from the military and public places across America.
The Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday announced the upcoming ban on the flag in all public and work areas on Navy bases, ships, aircraft, and submarines in a Tweet Tuesday afternoon.
Gilday said the order will ‘ensure unit cohesion’ and ‘uphold the Navy’s core values’.
This came just days after the US Marine Corps officially barred the use of the flag and as officials across southern states announced the removal of Confederate statues and displays, amid widespread protests calling for an end to systemic racism following the death of black man George Floyd at the hands of a white cop.
The US Navy has announced it is banning the display of the Confederate battle flag, as pressure mounts to remove symbols associated with racism and white supremacy from the military and public places across America
‘Today, I directed my staff to begin crafting an order that would prohibit the Confederate battle flag from all public spaces and work areas aboard Navy installations, ships, aircraft and submarines,’ Gilday tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
‘The order is meant to ensure unit cohesion, preserve good order and discipline, and uphold the Navy’s core values of honor, courage and commitment.’
It is not yet clear how the order will be implemented in private spaces such as individual barracks rooms, desk drawers or lockers or whether such spaces will be exempt from the rules.
The Marine Corps had announced its own order officially barring displays of the Confederate flag in a social media post Friday, citing the flag’s links to extremist and racist groups.
‘The Confederate battle flag has all too often been co-opted by violent extremist and racist groups whose divisive beliefs have no place in our Corps,’ the Marine Corps tweeted.
It is not yet clear how the order will be implemented in private spaces such as individual barracks rooms, desk drawers or lockers or whether such spaces will be exempt from the rules but it will be banned in all public and work areas on Navy bases, ships, aircraft, and submarines
The Confederate battle flag (pictured) has ties to racism and white supremacy
‘This presents a threat to our core values, unit cohesion, security, and good order and discipline. This must be addressed.’
The Corps issued a MARADMIN, or a Marine Administrative Message, to all of its commanders ordering the removal of the flag as depicted on bumper stickers, clothing, coffee mugs, flags, and posters.
Some exceptions have been made including to works of art or historical displays where the flag is depicted but is not the ‘main focus of the work’, state flags where the Confederate flag is part of the symbol, state license plates that include the image of the flag, and grave sites of soldiers who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Public spaces that will be subject to inspection include office buildings, open-bay barracks and shipboard berthing, commissaries, schoolhouses, and front yards of military housing.
But commanders will not inspect assigned individual barracks rooms or living quarters. They will also not be inspecting assigned desk drawers, cabinets, or lockers.
The Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday (pictured) announced the upcoming ban in a Tweet Tuesday afternoon
Gilday said the order will ‘ensure unit cohesion’ and ‘uphold the Navy’s core values’
Marine Corps soldiers can still display the flag inside their individual backpacks, private vehicles, and in their homes.
The debate in the US military over Confederate flags and statues as a hate symbol has been amplified in recent years after several high-profile incidents in which troops were found to be engaging in white supremacy.
Lance Corporal Vasillios Pistolis was kicked out of the Marine Corps in 2018 and sentenced to 28 days confinement after it was revealed he attended the 2017 white supremacist ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, at which a counter-protester was killed.
Pistolis was identified in photos from the rally on August 12, 2017, violently smashing a Confederate flag onto a counter-protester.
Protesters gather at the J.E.B. Stuart Monument in Richmond, Virginia, last week. Outrage over George Floyd’s death on Memorial Day has also reignited calls for the removal of racist and Confederate statues in public places across America
The toppled statue of Charles Linn, a city founder who was in the Confederate Navy, in Birmingham, Alabama
A judge in Virginia halted the removal of this statue depicting the Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond
In 2016, 18-year-old Anthony Bauswell was also turned away from the Marines for a Confederate flag tattoo reading ‘Southern Pride’.
A 2019 survey of active-duty troops also sparked fresh concerns of racism in the US military, with 36 percent saying they had witnessed white supremacy and racism in their ranks.
THE FLAG OF THE CONFEDERACY
The Civil War-era Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia is today known as the symbol of the Confederacy
What is today considered the Confederate flag was never the official national flag of the 13 states which made up the Confederate States of America from 1861 until 1865.
The banner that is often hoisted at rallies today is a version of the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Also known as the ‘Dixie flag,’ ‘rebel flag’, or ‘battle flag,’ the design has come to be associated with the racial history of the South.
The Confederate States of America were formed in 1861 when 11 states seceded from the union in order to protect the institution of slavery.
The North eventually defeated the South in the Civil War, resulting in the abolition of slavery.
But racial injustices continued, particularly in the South, where blacks were subject to systematic discrimination and violence at the hands of whites.
While the flag is often flown by non-extremists who cite Southern pride and heritage, the symbol has also been adopted by extremist groups like neo-Nazis and other white supremacist organizations, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
The use of the Confederate battle flag by extremist groups has prompted widespread calls for the banner to be banned and for statues and monuments honoring Civil War-era figures from the South to be taken down.
It also found as many of half of minority service members were personal witnesses to racism with enlisted members more likely to see it than officers.
Troops also cited white supremacy as a greater national security threat than domestic terrorism with a connection to Islam or immigration.
‘The majority of my co-workers were absolutely outstanding regarding race and work-relations and I credit military service for that,’ one participant said.
‘Nevertheless, somehow more racists are slipping through the cracks into the military.’
Outrage over Floyd’s death on Memorial Day has also reignited calls for the removal of racist and Confederate statues and symbols in public places across America.
In Virginia, a statue of Christopher Columbus was torn down by protesters at Byrd Park in Richmond and thrown into the lake Tuesday night.
This came after a judge in Virginia halted the removal of a statue depicting the Confederate General Robert E. Lee over in Richmond.
Preparations were already underway to tear down the statue of Lee before the judge passed a temporary injunction Monday night.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on Tuesday said he would fight the injunction and Mayor Levar Stoney has likened the importance of the statue’s removal to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.
On Friday, another Virginia city, Fredericksburg, removed a 176-year-old slave auction block from its downtown area.
The stone was pulled from the ground on a street corner where African Americans were once displayed and sold as slaves, after it was sprayed with graffiti twice last week during protests.
The site will be turned into a landmark recognizing the city’s painful past, officials said.
Over in Birmingham, Alabama, protesters toppled the statue of Charles Linn, a city founder who was in the Confederate Navy, last week.
Officials in states including Virginia, Alabama and Florida have backed the removal of other Confederate statues.
There are still 776 Confederate monuments across the US, according to Southern Poverty Law Center.