Whenever he’s asked to return to the Confederate memorial, it’s like watching an Olympic event featuring our Secretary of Defense. Really, it’s quite something.
Secretary Pete Hegses recently tasked the Army with renovating the Arlington Confederate monument from 1914. The project is set to be completed by 2027, with a budget of $10 million. Hegses described it as “a monument of reconciliation,” which feels a bit, well, overly optimistic.
Interestingly, in his announcement, he doesn’t use the actual name of the monument, “Arlington Confederate Memorial.” In fact, there’s no mention of the Confederate forces in his statement at all. This seems deliberate. Following a law passed by Congress in 2019, the Department of Defense is restricted from naming or renaming anything tied to the Confederacy, which is presumably why he referred to it as the “reconciliation monument.”
I’ve been looking into Confederate monuments, and—honestly, it’s hard to ignore how this particular structure is seen as exceptionally cruel and racist. Being placed on the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery adds another layer of insensitivity. The monument clearly honors the Confederate forces and their grim legacy: slavery.
It portrays an overweight woman, “Mummie,” who embraces her Confederate slave child as he heads off to war. This image perpetuates the false narrative of loyal slaves and benevolent white masters. The reality? Slavery involved horrific abuses, like rape and the separation of families.
Congress passed laws when the Republican-led Senate directed the Pentagon to remove memorials and honors related to the Confederacy. President Trump, however, vetoed an $800 billion defense spending bill over nine name changes, like those of Fort Lee and Fort Benning, which commemorate Confederate leaders. These bases have names dating back to World War I and II, yet during that time, Black southerners struggled to vote. Congress ultimately overrode his veto.
To execute this removal, Congress formed a naming committee, which I was vice-chair of. We weren’t just “wake-up lemmings.” The committee was made up of eight individuals appointed by Congress and the Secretary of Defense, including three Republicans, one Democrat, and four retired military officers.
During a visit to the Confederate memorial in 2022, we were taken aback by its clearly racist imagery and sentiments against American values. We unanimously recommended its removal.
Hegses and the Neo-Confederate group allege that the committee aimed to “erase history.” But that’s just not accurate. Schools still cover topics like the Civil War, slavery, and Jim Crow. Removing a name from a foundation devoted to Confederate generals doesn’t erase history; it reflects a necessary shift in our national narrative.
Hegses claims the monument embodies reconciliation, which is a confusing assertion, to say the least. Real reconciliation took place back in 1868 when President Andrew Johnson granted pardons to Confederate traitors. By 1877, former rebels had regained all political rights.
When the Arlington memorial was erected in 1914, it celebrated white supremacy rather than any notion of reconciliation. By that time, despite having a significant Black population in states like Mississippi and South Carolina, very few actually had access to voting rights. Jim Crow laws effectively silenced Black voices.
The supposed reconciliation overlooked the nine million African Americans in the South living under a reign of terror without voting rights, enforced by horrific acts like lynching. In 1914, the NAACP’s Crisis Magazine documented 55 lynchings of Black individuals; some were brutally murdered. Perpetrators faced no justice.
Memorials should serve to inspire, reflecting the values we hold dear. Instead of investing $10 million in restoring that particular monument, we should honor the 1,800 American troops of color and countless others who fought in the Civil War to end slavery.
By focusing on this monument, Hegses is dismissing the will of Congress and the American public. He seems to suggest that the values of 1914—rooted in white supremacy and Jim Crow—are reflective of our nation and military today. This monument has nothing to do with reconciliation or progress. To frame it otherwise is a distortion of history and disrespectful to those buried at Arlington Cemetery.
Brigadier General Ty Seidule, United States Army (retired), served as vice-chairman of the Naming Committee. He is a professor of history at Hamilton University and is working on a book titled “Promise Provided: The Battle to Rename 10 American Heroes and Our Country’s Military Bases.”
