Naval Academy building renamed in honor of Jimmy Carter

[ShazzieB]

10. Aside from being a racist bastard, and serving in the Confederate Navy?

"Maury Hall was previously named for Matthew Fountaine Maury, who headed the coast, harbor and river defenses for the Confederate Navy.

I'm sorry, but fighting for the Confederate states that tried to tear this nation apart pretty much cancels out any claim to "cool dude" status, afaic.

There's no question that there were people on the Confederate side who were good at what they did, and some of them may have had some positive personal qualities, but we should not lose sight of the fact that they went to war against the United States to protect their "right" to continue enslaving other human beings.

I don't know a darned thing about Maury personally, but I know from this article that he headed the "coast, harbor and river defenses for the Confederate Navy." I presume that would have included firing on and sinking U.S. Navy ships manned by fellow Americans. I don't know how many deaths of American sailors and naval officers he was directly or indirectly responsible for, but the idea of a building at the U.S. Naval Academy having his name on it makes me cringe. I'm really glad to see Confederate names being removed from U.S. military facilities, and I will celebrate when they have all been renamed.

Sorry if this comment sounds harsh. I'm a great admirer of Lincoln, and I've been reading a lot about him and the Civil War lately. Knowing what he went through trying to keep this country in one piece and how he was "rewarded" by being assassinated by a Confederate sympathizer makes me feel like putting the entire Confederacy on my shit list. I say this as a person who has at least one ancestor who fought on the Confederate side (and he's on my shit list, too ).