Trump to Strip Military Assets of Names Honoring Latino and Civil Rights Icons
USNS Harvey Milk. X/ @MikeLevin
July 15, 2025 Hour: 2:23 pm
It’s outrageous that the Department of Defense would engage in petty politics, Representative Liccardo pointed out.
On Tuesday, Hispanic congressmen Sam Liccardo and Gil Cisneros condemned the U.S. government’s proposal to rename the US Naval Ship Cesar Chavez, originally named in honor of the renowned civil rights activist.
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“It’s outrageous that the Department of Defense would engage in petty, performative politics by proposing removal of Cesar Chavez’s name from a U.S. Navy ship. Chavez was a Navy veteran, a civil rights icon, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Liccardo said.
“This is not a partisan matter, it’s American; all of us benefit from Cesar Chavez’s legacy of service, social justice, and leadership. It is outrageous that the Department of Defense is engaging in petty and performative politics by proposing to remove Cesar Chavez’s name from a U.S. Navy ship,” he added.
Besides being a prominent civil rights activist who fought for the rights of farmworkers in California in the 1950s and 1960s, Chavez co-founded the United Farm Workers — a labor union for agricultural workers in the United States — and served two years in the Navy.
The USNS Cesar Chavez was given its name in 2011. It is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo and ammunition ship, capable of carrying more than 40,000 tons of food, fuel or munitions to other vessels at sea. At the ship’s christening ceremony, then-Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said Chavez’s name was chosen for the inspiration he provided to young citizens and his role in protecting American freedoms.
The statements from the two California congressmen come as the Navy is reviewing the names of several ships, including the USNS Thurgood Marshall — named after the first Black U.S. Supreme Court justice — and the USNS Lucy Stone, which honors an abolitionist and suffragist.
On June 27, the Pentagon officially renamed a ship that had honored gay rights activist Harvey Milk. “I am pleased to announce that the United States Navy is renaming the USNS Harvey Milk to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson. We are taking the politics out of ship naming,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
The Trump administration also announced in June a plan to rename several U.S. Army bases, including Fort Cavazos, which had honored Richard E. Cavazos, the first Hispanic four-star general.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: EFE – CBS