WASHINGTON – The U.S. Coast Guard has enacted a workplace harassment policy that reclassifies swastikas and nooses as “potentially divisive” rather than explicitly identifying them as hate symbols, according to The Washington Post. The change has raised concerns among historians and lawmakers who say it minimizes the severity and historical weight of such symbols.
This new policy cancels the previous harassment manual, as confirmed by the Coast Guard in a written correspondence provided to Congress and reviewed by The Washington Post.
The Washington Post reported last month on the Coast Guard’s plan to revise its harassment policy but was met with criticism from the Trump administration, which referred to the article as “false.” Shortly after, acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday issued a memo forcefully denouncing swastikas and nooses and stressed that both will “remain prohibited,” according to The Post.
According to The Post, Lunday stated that his memo “would supersede any other language.” However, the new harassment policy was not revised to remove “potentially divisive” from its language to better align with Lunday’s directive.
The Washington Post noted that the reclassification of swastikas and nooses has been subject to criticism, as it comes at a time when “antisemitism is on the rise globally.” Deborah Lipstadt, a historian who served as former President Joe Biden’s representative to monitor antisemitism, described the Coast Guard’s decision to change the language as “terrifying,” stated The Post.
According to The Post, Lipstadt underscored that the swastika has been the symbol that “hundreds of thousands of Americans fought and gave their lives to defeat.” “It is not ‘potentially divisive,’ it’s a hate symbol,” stated Lipstadt.
Additionally, The Post highlighted that Lipstadt argued how marchers in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville recognized and discouraged the use of swastikas as it would paint them as Nazis. “When far-right protesters in Charlottesville were strategic enough to recognize the swastika would do them no good and now we have an arm of the U.S. military saying ‘It’s not so bad,’ that’s frightening,” Lipstadt said, according to The Post.
As reported by The Washington Post, the Coast Guard’s decision to classify the swastika and the noose as “potentially divisive” rather than explicitly referring to them as hate symbols has drawn criticism from historians and lawmakers who argue that this change minimizes the ongoing effects these symbols have in today’s society.
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