Think about this, Sen. Hawley

If there were statues of Nazi generals and political leaders in Germany, we would wonder, quite understandably, what kind of message those statues were intended to send. If the answer were that they represented a hugely significant, highly consequential era in German history and that Germans needed not to forget that history, we could agree with both points in principle — but we would still wonder, out loud, if statues were the best way of remembering.

After all, we don't use statuary to remember history: for that, we have history books. Statues honor specific persons or events.

Buildings and monuments, too, honor specific people or events. The exceptions are museums focused on horrific events and actions, like the Holocaust. Such museums are designed not to honor their subjects but to explain their horror to later generations, in hopes of not repeating such tragedies.

With all this in mind, here's what Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) had to say about a proposal to rename military installations currently named for Confederate soldiers, like Fort Bragg and Fort Hood.

"I just don't think that Congress mandating that these be renamed and attempting to erase that part of our history is a way you deal with that history," Hawley said. "I don't think turning your back on it's how you deal with it, confront it, and then move on."

Hawley added: "I've heard from a lot of soldiers who've come through those bases and they've said that those bases mean something to me I have my own history with those, please don't rename those."

Renaming those military bases will not erase history. Hundreds if not thousands of books have been written about the Civil War, and more will be written, I have no doubt. Schoolchildren will continue to read the names of Confederate civilian and military leaders in their textbooks. What renaming these bases will do is simply to stop honoring men who fought for what most of us now understand was not just a lost cause but an evil cause: slavery.

As for the idea that renaming the bases will somehow diminish the meaning they hold for those who lived and trained there, I would ask those who feel that way to ask themselves, "How will changing the name diminish the lessons I learned, the camaraderie I felt, the honor I take from my service?"

I acknowledge that hearing the name of a beloved institution can trigger a flood of cherished memories. Having that name stricken from common usage — knowing that the next time troops deploy from that fort, the news reports will refer to it by a different name than the one engraved in your heart — might leave you feeling a little lost, or worse.

However, with their current names those forts honor men who fought to keep African Americans enslaved. Every day those installations continue bearing those names, the nation says that it is still content to denigrate African Americans, because the nation is not willing to stop honoring those who dishonored, brutally abused, and killed their ancestors.

African Americans have endured generation after generation of literal second-class citizenship, of physical and psychological violence, at the hands of both their non-black neighbors and all levels of government. Can you who wish to retain the physical reminders of the Confederacy say the same?

No, you can't, even if you're poor. Why? Because the default color of this society is white. Our default expectations, our default assumptions, our default behaviors — they all derive from European American norms. As so many African Americans have had occasion to point out recently, if you think you've had a hard life as a white person in this country, try being black. That's what "systemic racism" is all about: it consists of all the assumptions we have and make that unconsciously bias every aspect of society in favor of whites and against blacks and other minorities. It doesn't mean all whites benefit equally or that all blacks are equally harmed. It means the odds are stacked against blacks and other minorities.

Having made that grandiose claim, you might be tempted to retort, "Well then how much good will it do to rename some military bases?" The answer is, not nearly as much as other actions that will have a more tangible benefit.

However, the small action of renaming military installations to honor those other than prominent Confederate figures is eminently achievable now with minimal cost. It would send the signal that the nation at least is trying to reckon with its past mistakes.

Sen. Hawley, the next time you hear from soldiers who oppose renaming such installations (or if you oppose renaming because you yourself spent time in one: the article's punctuation makes that unclear), I suggest you tell them that their prospective discomfort is minor compared to the denigration — indeed, the humiliation — African Americans feel every day this country continues to honor defenders of slavery. Tell those soldiers that their nostalgia comes at the price of others' pain. Ask them if the nation they served ought to allow that pain to continue.

For that matter, Senator, ask yourself that question.