Courtney Statement on Coast Guard Policy to No Longer Classify Swastikas and Nooses as Hate Symbols

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) released the following statement in response to a new U.S. Coast Guard policy to no longer classify swastikas and nooses as hate symbols and rather as “potentially divisive”.  

"In 2007, two hangman nooses were found at the Coast Guard Academy: one in a Black cadet's bag and another in a race relations trainer's office. In response, then-Commandant Thad Allen personally flew up to the Academy campus in New London to emphatically tell cadets that this hate behavior has no place in the Coast Guard. Much work was done to make the Coast Guard safe and inclusive for its highly talented personnel. It is appalling that the Coast Guard is taking this gigantic step backwards and reclassifying nooses and swastikas as ‘potentially divisive’, as opposed to what they are: hate symbols. It is deeply troubling that this decision was even considered and should be immediately reversed."

Connecticut’s Second District is home to U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London. Earlier this year, Congressman Courtney was reappointed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Board of Visitors. 

###