NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — Joined by two of her Brooklyn, New York congressional colleagues and other elected officials, Caribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke has rallied outside Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, calling on the US Department of the Army to change two street names which she said “have for decades been used to honour men who waged war against the United States to protect the evil institution of slavery”.

“These memorials are an insult,” Clarke, who represents the 9thCongressional District in Brooklyn, told a press conference outside Fort Hamilton, flanked by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.

“They are a personal insult to the hundreds of thousands of women and men in Brooklyn who are descendants of a people held in bondage.

“They are an insult to many of the members of the armed forces honourably serving our country at this military base, for we are still living with the legacy of slavery and the refusal of this nation to truly accept the outcome of the Civil War,” added the daughter of Jamaican immigrants.

“That legacy remains continues to threaten our community.”

Clarke said “that terrible legacy was the very reason Neo-Nazis and other white supremacists marched through the streets of Charlottesville [Virginia] with torches and guns – the standard equipment of the Ku Klux Klan.”

She said these individuals were trying to defend a statue of Robert E Lee, located in Emancipation Park in Charlottesville and noted that the City Council in Charlottesville and the mayor “realised that a public monument to a man who represents white supremacy – and nothing else – was simply not acceptable in 2017.

“We call upon the Army to reach the same determination,” Clarke said, stating that, today, “cities and states across this nation are following the lead of New Orleans, where the city chose to reckon with its history and remove Confederate monuments.”

In its initial response to the congressional representatives’ request, the Army claimed that changing the street names at Fort Hamilton would be “divisive.”

“We strongly disagree,” Clarke said, stating that the names symbolise “a continuing effort to divide our nation by race, an effort that, very unfortunately, has been joined by the man who now occupies the White House.

“We believe instead in a form of reconciliation that honours the dignity of all members of our civil society, and have, therefore, introduced legislation, the Honoring Real Patriots Act of 2017, to require such changes at all military bases in the United States,” she said.

“The time has come for the Army to remove from Fort Hamilton and other military installations the disgraced names of men who waged war against the United States to preserve the evil institution of slavery.

“It is clear that these symbols remain an inspiration to some who espouse white supremacist ideology to perpetuate acts of terror and violence on the peaceful, law abiding citizens of our nation,” Clarke added. “We must continue to resist any attempt to perpetuate white supremacy in our country.”

Last week, Clarke introduced the “Honoring Real Patriots Act of 2017” in the United States House of Representatives to remove Confederate monuments from military bases.

Clarke said the “Honoring Real Patriots Act of 2017” would require the US Department of Defense to change the name of any military installation or other property under its control currently named for individuals who fought against the United States during the Civil War or supported the Confederacy’s war efforts.

The legislation followed requests by Clarke and her colleagues in the Brooklyn Congressional delegation that the US Department of the Army change the names of two streets at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn that are now named for Confederate generals.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other community leaders have since joined in calling for the name change. The Army has refused these requests.

Two Saturdays ago, white nationalists and counter-protesters clashed in Charlottesville, Virginia in what has been described as one of the bloodiest fights to date over the removal of Confederate monuments across the Southern United States.

One woman was killed when a Neo Nazis man rammed a car into demonstrators against the rally, and several were injured in the mêlée.

Two Virginia State troopers were also killed when their helicopter crashed as they monitored the rally.

Clarke said she could not fathom “in the 17th year of the 21st Century to watch hatred and violence unleashed on peaceful protestors in a peaceful American city.”

She said the hatred and violence ranked “among the lowest of the lows of Donald Trump’s presidency.”