The US Army wants to remove any sort of divisive symbols from military bases, potentially including Confederate flags, the Army secretary said yesterday, suggesting that the Pentagon was close to a broader policy barring such symbols from all military installations.
A number of military services, including the Marine Corps, have already banned the display of Confederate flags even as President Donald Trump has said that flying the flag is “freedom of speech.”
“Anything that is a divisive symbol, we do want to take those of our installations and that sort of thing out of our formation,” Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told reporters.
Asked if that would include specifically identifying Confederate flags as divisive symbols, McCarthy said: “We would have any divisive symbols on a no-fly list, if you will.”
He added that the Pentagon was close to a decision on a uniform policy for the different services on divisive symbols.
Trump, who has stoked racial divisions as part of his re-election campaign, has criticised the desecration and removal of statues of Confederate and other former US leaders to energise his political base.
Last month, Trump rejected renaming military bases named after Confederate generals, slapping down Pentagon officials who are open to discussing the issue.
Recent social unrest has raised new questions about the flying of the Confederate battle flag in areas of the country and whether statues honouring Confederate leaders during the 1861-1865 US Civil War should be removed from prominent places.
Asked on Tuesday if the flag should be “taken down,” Trump responded: “I know people that like the Confederate flag and they’re not thinking about slavery.”
Last week the top US general said the military had to take a “hard look” at symbols of the Confederacy, including base names.
Separately, the Republican leader in the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced legislation that would cut federal aid to state and local governments if they do not protect statues, after protesters attacked monuments to people who owned slaves or fought for the Confederacy.
“It is wrong to erase our history,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement, criticising “left-wing mobs” who have attacked statues across the United States.
Under his bill, introduced with fellow Republican Representatives Jim Jordan and Sam Graves, some federal funds would be withheld if local governments do not “restore order or arrest rioters.”
During national — and international — protests against racial injustice sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May some demonstrators have taken down or vandalised statues of historical figures such as Robert E Lee, who led Confederate troops against the United States, and Christopher Columbus.
Trump has threatened decades-long prison terms for those who deface monuments or statues.
McCarthy introduced his bill as Democrats pushed legislation to remove monuments to slave owners and those who supported slavery from the US Capitol in Washington.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday she expected the House would pass such legislation next week or the week after.