Should US military bases named after Confederates be renamed?

MSG Steve Howell, indeed we can. Although I would say the character of our elected representatives says at least as much about us and the values of American voters as it does about the person elected.

Hear, hear, SCPO Lee Pradia

SFC (Join to see) - and which President would that have been? I'm straining my brain trying to recall and am coming up blank.

I stand corrected, I confused myself thinking about guys that were officers and then left and went to fight for the Confederacy.

I agree to some extent. The confederate flag has different meanings for different people. Unfortuately, like the swastika, it has come to mean something devisive and ugly. Its a shame for those that see it as nothing more than part of the South's history, but it does and flying it anywhere but a museum, like the swastika, can create nothing but strife.

It truly is unfortunate that instead of education, we are pushed towards the route of censorship and/or removal to avoid future incidents. In a world and a nation where our own US flag cannot be flown proudly for fear of causing offense, I should not be surprised that this is happening.

The Confederacy was largely about slavery and the subjugation of an entire race, and that fact is entirely confirmed in the Cornerstone Address. It doesn't require a hijacking by any group to be racist.

A couple of thoughts;

First is that the flag is continuously Mis-represented as the flag of the Confederate States of America. This is false. It is the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Secondly, after the Confederacy's defeat at the hands of the Union in the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, Stephens attempted to retract the statements made in his speech. Denying slavery as the Confederacy's cause for starting the war, he contended, to the contrary, that the war was rooted in constitutional differences.

Third, the assertion that the CSA was founded largely on the shoulders of institution of slavery based on one speech given by one man at one single given moment in time. Alexander Stephens was not speaking for the entire nation. He was speaking for politicians and some plantation owners by and large. Was Hitler speaking for all of Germany and for all Germans during his reign as dictator? I submit that he was not. To ascertain that Stephens was speaking for all Southerners and citizens of the CSA would be incorrect and a feeble notion at best.

While the Confederacy did heavily rely on utilizing slavery to bolster its economy and the subjugation of an entire race was a large part of the fundamental differences between the Northern and Southern states, it did not IMO define who the South was. That, to me, is like saying the Iraqi, Syrian or Afghan flags represent terrorism. Or that the actions of Sadaam Hussein defined who the Iraqi people were. Those who have that mindset are wrong. That is at the heart of this entire matter. To allow a symbol to have the kind of power the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia has to some closed minded individuals is saddening to me because it represents so much more than just one thing. Take into consideration our own American flag...if you were to ask 100 people what it means, what it stands for, you're likely to get 100 different answers as it represents many things to many people. The same can be said for the flag in question.

I think that says it all!

CPT Quentin von Éfáns-Taráfdar thank you sir

Thank you CPT you said it well; I have learned that the most intolerant close minded individuals are the so called "liberal elite" and their minions who drink the Kool Aid like its Air, have you ever noticed that whenever you express an opinion differing from the liberal persons; instead of your argument being attacked personal attacks and name calling are heaped upon you?

Why stoop to such low juvenile levels as they do when their "facts" don't support their arguments. Just keep fighting the good fight and don't bend to these strong arm tactics of the PC Toought Pokice. Never surrender your believes or who you are: when facts support your case.

Amen, brother!