Confederate "Heritage" Month 2020, April 30: No Confederate battle flags for the US Marine Corps

A South Carolina news source, the Charleston Post and Courier gives us a great illustration for this last Confederate "Heritage" Month on how neo-Confederate/Lost Cause ideology still plays a role in American understandings of our history and in contemporary politics: Thomas Noverlly; Top Marine responds after SC Confederate group angered about ban on battle flag 04/29/2020:

The Marine Corps’ top officer has detailed why he banned the Confederate battle flag from bases across the country, a month after a South Carolina heritage group called the policy “appalling.”

Earlier this year, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger asked officers to create a policy to remove Confederate-related paraphernalia from all of the branch’s bases. When news of the policy leaked last month, many heritage groups, including South Carolina’s Sons of Confederate Veterans, were outraged. ...

More than one-third of all active-duty troops and more than half of minority service members say they have personally witnessed examples of white nationalism or ideologically driven racism within the ranks, according to a February survey of active-duty personnel conducted by the Military Times.

Kevin Levin asks a sensible question:

Why is anyone concerned about what an organization that celebrates a rebellion that killed United States Marines thinks about this policy? Seriously. https://t.co/yStZ4VXrbo

— Kevin M. Levin (@KevinLevin) April 29, 2020

This is Berger's April 23 tweet providing the text of his official statement:

Read here for my views on displays of the confederate battle flag.https://t.co/MuM6ClDXV5 pic.twitter.com/uAAfa7awMf

— David H. Berger (@CMC_MarineCorps) April 23, 2020

Corey Dickstein reported earlier For Stars and Stripes (Marine commandant defends banning Confederate flag as a divisive symbol 04/23/2020):

The Confederate battle flag is a symbol still closely tied to the southern states and slavery during the Civil War. The symbol remains popular in the American South, where defenders describe it as representing southern heritage and pride. But the Confederate battle flag has also been used heavily by white supremacist groups, and is considered a symbol of racism by others. ...

The Confederacy’s legacy has had a lingering impact on the U.S. military. While Berger disallowed the display of its symbols in February, the Army has 10 installations that carry the names of Confederate generals. The Army has no intention of renaming those posts, which used Confederate names in “the spirit of reconciliation,” a service official said earlier this year.