Over a decade ago, the U.S. Navy honored civil rights icon Medgar Wiley Evers by naming a supply ship after him. But now, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is considering removing his name, calling it part of what he believes is “wokeness in the military.”
Evers’ family, particularly his niece Wanda Evers, isn’t staying quiet about it. She says her uncle didn’t just fight for Black Americans but for equality and justice for everyone. Stripping his name from a Navy ship, she says, dishonors his legacy.
Medgar Evers was a World War II veteran who returned home to lead major efforts in voting rights and civil rights, particularly in Mississippi. His fight ultimately cost him his life when he was assassinated in front of his Jackson home in 1963.
The Navy named the ship after Evers in 2011 under former Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. It was a nod to his service both in the military and the civil rights movement. Now, that honor could be rolled back as part of a larger review Hegseth is conducting. He’s looking at changing the names of eight different military ships.
This isn’t the first time the Evers family has seen efforts to erase his contributions. Earlier this year, the Army quietly removed Evers’ name from an educational section of the Arlington National Cemetery website. That section had included Black veterans and civil rights heroes like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
His family says these moves feel like a slow attempt to rewrite or erase critical parts of American history. They’re determined not to let that happen.
For now, there’s no clear timeline for a final decision, but the conversation is far from over.
