Did Donald Trump's Defense Secretary Just Solve the Great Naming Culture Wars?
A clever solution to military bases that were renamed to move away from Confederate generals offers a potential compromise in our cultural conflicts.
In the Summer of 2020, the Congress voted — in the face of then-President Trump’s opposition — to rename a slew of military bases across the American South named after Confederate generals.
The impetus for this move was a New York Times piece that seemed to have just about perfect timing — it was published at the tail end of May, right before America’s version of a cultural revolution kicked off following the murder of George Floyd.
The measure to change the names passed without much dissent, with only a smattering of Southern lawmakers and others in opposition.
To many Americans, renaming the bases was a no-brainer: they were named after generals who belonged to an army that divided the country in half. They betrayed their country, as represented by the federal government, and sparked a war that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. And this was all set off by the insistence of some Southern elites to secede from the country rather than agree to an arrangement where human slavery was being slowly phased out.
But to other Americans, the renaming felt uneasy. Sure, some of these people were motivated by an attachment to the Confederacy. The Lost Cause still looms large over the minds of some Southerners, who believe a version of history that says that slavery wasn’t connected to the Confederacy at all (this isn’t true).
Yet a lot of Americans simply don’t want to rename something when they’ve always associated a certain word with a certain place. Imagine you’re a resident of Jacksonville, Florida or Columbus, Ohio and your problematic namesakes prompt a renaming of the city you’ve been born and raised in. Would you really not feel at least a little unsettled by having to use a new word for a place you’ve always associated with a particular name?
Which is why I think the base renaming didn’t quite stick for a lot of people in and around these communities.
I don’t have any relationship to the Confederacy whatsoever, but even I find myself still thinking of the base in Augusta, Georgia — where I frequently travel — as Fort Gordon (named after Confederate John Brown Gordon). That’s just what I’ve known it as my entire life. I had to recently look up what they changed its name to (it’s Fort Eisenhower).
But Donald Trump’s new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth might’ve figured out a novel solution to this dilemma. He just signed a proclamation shifting North Carolina’s Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg. But there’s a novel twist. They’re renaming it after a different Bragg:
While flying aboard a C-17 from Joint Base Andrews to Stuttgart on February 10, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum renaming Fort Liberty in North Carolina to Fort Roland L. Bragg. The new name pays tribute to Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II hero who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge. This change underscores the installation's legacy of recognizing those who have demonstrated extraordinary service and sacrifice for the nation.
This might be the most creative solution I’ve ever heard of for this problem. People who don’t want things named after problematic people can be happy. People who are used to something they’re intimately connected to having a certain name can be happy.
The only problem I see is that contractors are going to make a killing off of Uncle Sam reprinting all those signs and t-shirts.
You are missing what is (IMO) the most important reason to oppose renaming bases named after Confederates.
The Civil War was a war between brothers, a deep wound in our nation. And the surrender at Appottamox was the first step to healing the wound and rebuilding the Union. In peace, we would once again be all in it together as Americans.
Naming an American military base after a Confederate general is to make it plain that said general *was an American*. It’s a symbol of peace and reconciliation, as well as the unity (and therefore victory) of the Union.
Changing the name reopens the wound for no reason at all. It amounts to saying: “We don't care about reconciliation after all. The Confederates weren’t really Americans, they were foreign enemies. Their history isn’t American history. If your ancestors fought for the Confederacy, you should be ashamed of them.” A profoundly hostile, divisive, aggressive, and anti-peace move.
Let us also not forget that the Confederates were Americans too and millions of their descendants still live in the American South today. They are due the same respect of any other American veterans. It should also be noted the story of the Civil War is complicated by the service of Jews, people of color and immigrants in the Confederate Army and Navy. You will actually find many people of color as a matter of fact today who are members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for example. It should also be noted the North was no racial utopia. Black Union soldiers were denied equal pay, couldn’t have black officers, were punished more harshly than white soldiers if accused or rape, and served in segregated units from white soldiers. Not to mention the 1863 New York City Draft Riots.