There is a proposal now for removing the names of Confederate heroes from military bases, with the proposed rule being to not name military installations after people who have taken up arms against the US.
At the risk of being Trumped, I question this on both moral and military history grounds. At the moment, in Afghanistan, we have an outpost called FOB Geronimo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_O ... e_Geronimo
A quick scan of base names suggested a few in the US that might be named for Indians. There are definitely cities, counties, and states named for them. If Stone Mountain must be eliminated, what about the Crazy Horse Monument?
https://crazyhorsememorial.org/
There is something to be said for honoring a worthy opponent.
If it were my choice, I'd recycle Nathan Forrest's statue for scrap. Worthy opponent in the war ("get there firstest with the mostest"), loathsome terrorist afterwards. I'd do the same for Sherman and Sheridan, not just for their scorched earth policy in Georgia, but because they were responsible for most of the more notorious Indian Wars. Custer was their boy. They ignored treaties (The Law). The Nez Perce episode (Chief Joseph's band) was entirely of their making as they ordered that group onto the reservation even though they had clearly not signed a treaty turning over their land. Rename their bases ... they dishonored the nation.
Meanwhile, the tactics of the Nez Perce were so good, they're taught at West Point to this day.
Rommel was a Nazi, but he was implicated in a plot to try to kill Hitler, and he wrote a great book on tank tactics that Patton studied. "Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!" I'd say, no statue, no base name, but an enemy you can respect.
I agree that Google squashed free speech in the James Damore case. Universities have been struggling to get this right, as well. Abuses get even worse in your typical high school. The political leanings of educators may have changed from conservative to liberal in my lifetime, but the mind control game is the same ... some things cannot be said. They're just different things now. While raised as a Christian, I thought requiring participation in a Christian prayer was wrong in a public school, just as suppressing the right of a student to express their own belief is wrong. This struggle has been going on since the 1st Amendment was passed, and people have a hard time fully embracing it when beliefs they don't like are involved. Voltaire never actually said, ""I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." But he should have.
