West Point To Remove Confederate Symbols On Its Campus

West Point

A US Congressional panel has identified 13 items that will either be modified or removed outright from West Point, the US Military Academy, as it memorializes the Confederacy. Bronze plaques depicting General Robert Edward Lee and various other leading Confederate leaders and symbols at the US Military Academy will mostly be removed.

All Confederacy symbols are set to go from the campus. The West Point campus is set to even take down the portrait of General Robert Lee, resplendent in his Confederacy regalia, from the library of the academy.

Through the next year, the academy will also totally remove, relocate, rename or modify busts, streets, memorials, buildings, and even streets named after leading Confederate figures. The measures are being under a ruling from the defense department. The academy’s superintendent, Lt. General Steven Gilland revealed on the West Point website that the dismantling process would start during the festive holiday.

All Symbols Commemorating Or Remembering Confederacy To Be Removed From West Point

Lee’s portrait will be among the first to go along with a bust. Lee was a superintendent at the academy before he went on to lead the Confederates. a bronze triptych that included prominent Confederate leaders and a hooded replica of a Ku Klux Klan member will also be consigned to the store room, General Gilland said.

The academy took the steps after a directive from the defense department in October. West Point was ordered to replace or remove items that either memorialized or commemorated the Confederacy of the people who voluntarily served under it.

This directive came after the Naming Commission recommended assessing items with the defense department that celebrated the Confederacy at various academies including the US Naval Academy and West Point. The Naming Commission first gained attention when Trump opposed any move to scrap Confederate symbols from military academies and installations.