KKK Plaque Discovered at West Point

Facts

• According to a report issued last month, the congressional Naming Commission — established in 2021 to identify Defense Dept. (DOD) assets named after Confederate figures — has discovered a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) plaque at the US Military Academy in West Point, NY.
• The plaque, positioned at the entrance of the campus’ science building, was meant by the sculptor to commemorate “both tragedy and triumph in our nation’s history,” according to a statement issued by West Point.
• Because the plaque isn’t specifically a Confederate monument, the commission can’t recommend its removal. However, it has encouraged the Sec. of Defense to “address DOD assets that highlight the KKK.”
• The commission’s latest report, which focused on West Point and the Annapolis Naval Academy, flagged seven Army and three Navy assets for renaming.
• West Point’s public affairs office, stated it “does not accept, condone, or promote racism, sexism or any other biases.” It said it will review the commission’s recommendations and will work with the Army to implement changes.
• The KKK is a far-right group that was established in the southern US after the Civil War and fought against Reconstruction, targeting and often even killing black people. It had grown to four million members by the 1920s and persists through today, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Sources: NBC, CNN, Daily Mail, and New York Post.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Daily Kos. The Naming Commission continues to prove its worth, this time finding a racist monument many had missed. This is what the commission was created to do; not to erase history, but to make sure those who don’t deserve celebration get removed from prominent public places.
• Right narrative, as provided by Breitbart. You can’t simply “cancel” the Confederacy and everything unsavory from the annals of national history. A name on a monument or a plaque on a building isn’t hurting anyone, and this whole endeavor of renaming and removing things is an expensive goose chase from the woke left.