Hegseth the ex Fox TV Presenter, and one of Trump’s lapdogs, simply cannot do enough to please his master. Renaming the USNS ship that honoured the legendary gay rights activist Harvey Milk is part of a larger plan to ditch the names of several civil rights leaders who were also honored in this way. On The List are:
USNS Lucy Stone: Named after a leading pioneer suffragist and abolitionist. Lucy Stone dedicated her life to fighting inequality in all areas. She was the first Massachusetts woman to earn a college degree. She continually challenged gender norms and gender roles. She went on to write her own marriage vows to show her egalitarian beliefs. She refused to take her husband’s last name.
USNS Harriet Tubman: Named after the abolitionist and conductor of the Underground Railroad. She was born into slavery in Maryland as Araminta Ross. After her escape, she was a central figure in the fight against slavery by risking her freedom to save others. She also served as a spy for the North during the Civil War, and as a nurse and advocate for women’s suffrage. In 2024, she was posthumously awarded the rank of brigadier general in the Maryland National Guard.
USNS Thurgood Marshall: Named after the first Black Supreme Court Justice from 1967-1991. Before that he headed the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and was lead counsel in the successful Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, which legally ended school segregation.
USNS Medgar Evers: Named after the civil rights leader who was assassinated by an avowed white supremacist. Medgar Wiley Evers was field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi. He was an Army veteran of World War II. Upon returning home, he fought for equality and justice for African Americans. Evers enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 at age 17. He fought in Europe during World War II in the segregated 657th Port Company. He participated in the critical logistics operation, the Red Ball Express, in advance of the Allied invasion of Normandy.
USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Named after the feminist icon and Supreme Court Justice from 1993 to her death in 2020. Bader Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman and the second woman to serve on the Court, after Sandra Day O’Connor. Throughout her life, she fought tirelessly for women’s equality and for other civil rights causes. Though she did not serve in the military, she significantly impacted military policies through her legal work, most importantly by working to end the military’s policy of discharging women for becoming pregnant.
USNS Cesar Chavez: Named after the Mexican-American labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded with Dolores Huerta the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) (formerly the National Farm Workers Association). He dedicated his life to improving the working and living conditions of farm workers through the strategies of nonviolence including boycotts, strikes, and fasts. Chavez’s activism led to significant victories in raising wages, improving benefits, and securing better working conditions for farm workers. Chavez served in the U.S. Navy from 1946 to 1948, shortly following World War II, stationed in the Western Pacific, including assignments in Saipan and Guam.
USNS Dolores Huerta: Named after the labor leader, civil rights activist, and community organizer who co-founded with Cesar Chavez the United Farm Workers of America (UFW). For decades she played a pivotal role in the successes of the UFW. She too dedicated her life to improving the working and living conditions of farm workers.
The practice of changing the names of US Navy ships is extremely rare. On two occasions, however, the Navy renamed two ships in 2023 during the Biden administration because they were linked to the Confederacy: the USS Chancellorsville was renamed the USS Robert Smalls, and the USNS Maury was renamed the USNS Marie Tharp. Hegseth however is removing names of renowned patriotic freedom loving people intent on improving life for everyone, and who we will remember long after he and The Orange Man in The White House are deceased.
