U.S. Military Academy under pressure to remove Ku Klux Klan plaque
NEW YORK -- West Point is under the national microscope, after a congressional panel said the military academy should consider removing a plaque honoring the Ku Klux Klan.
As CBS2's Jessica Moore reported Wednesday, the Naming Commission just announced major historic changes to military bases around the country that commemorate the Confederacy.
The faces of military bases are changing. Moore spoke to historian Dr. Harlan Ullman, a Vietnam veteran and graduate of the Naval Academy.
"What message is being sent when you hear these names being changed?" Moore asked.
"It sends a message that, over time, things that were wrong will be determined as wrong," Ullman said.
The commission is recommending the Department of Defense rename nine military bases that honor Confederate generals.
Notably, it recommends Fort Bragg in North Carolina be renamed Fort Liberty, Fort Hood in Texas be renamed Fort Cavazos, and Fort Lee in Virginia be called Fort Gregg-Adams.
"It's very difficult because, as I said, the generals and admirals who won World War II were raised on the notion that these were heroes and they had fought in the Confederacy, and so you have to change thinking in a big way. So, I think it shows how much society has changed," Ullman said.
Ullman said he thinks removing one monument is non-negotiable.
"The one monument that must be removed must be the KKK monument at West Point," he said.
For years, students at West Point walking into Bartlett Hall Science Center have passed by an image of a hooded figure with the words "Ku Klux Klan" written below it.
The panel flagged the plaque in its report, urging review, but said recommending the removal of the plaque fell outside its scope, because the KKK, founded by Confederate soldiers, emerged after the Civil War and the panel's purview stops at the Confederacy.
"That is intolerable to keep it there no matter what the law says and I hope that will be done," Ullman said.
West Point sent CBS2 a statement noting it had seen the panel's remarks on the plaque, adding, "We are reviewing the recommendations and will collaborate with the Department of the Army to implement changes, once approved. As a values-based institution, we are fully committed to creating a climate where everyone is treated with dignity and respect."
Ultimately, West Point must decide whether or not to remove the KKK plaque.
"That is certainly the one monument that should be certainly removed," Ullman said.
The Secretary of Defense holds the authority to direct specific bases to be renamed.
The panel recommended several monuments, portraits and engravings at West Point be removed. The total estimated cost to do so is more than $300,000.
