The NAACP launched a forceful public rebuke of the Navy on Friday after reports surfaced that the service branch considered renaming the USS Doris Miller, an aircraft carrier honoring a Black World War II hero, and potentially replacing it with President Trump's name.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson took to social media to condemn the reported discussions, characterizing the proposal as "a slap in the face" to the legacy of Miller and the broader Black community. Johnson's statement reflects deep concern within civil rights organizations about the potential erasure of a historically significant figure from the Navy's fleet.
Doris Miller served as a messman aboard the USS West Virginia during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Despite his limited combat training and role as a kitchen worker, Miller heroically manned an anti-aircraft gun during the Japanese assault, firing at enemy planes until ammunition ran out. He was credited with saving numerous lives. The Navy awarded him the Navy Cross in recognition of his valor, making him the first Black sailor to receive the honor. Miller was killed in 1943 when a Japanese submarine sank the USS Liscome Bay in the Gilbert Islands.
The USS Doris Miller, a Gerald R. Ford-class supercarrier, was commissioned in 2021 as a direct tribute to Miller's extraordinary courage and service. The naming decision represented a watershed moment for the Navy, reflecting the institution's effort to reckon with historical racism and honor contributions of African American service members who had previously gone overlooked in official Navy nomenclature.
The reported proposal to rename the vessel marks a dramatic departure from that symbolic commitment. While the exact source of the Navy's alleged deliberations remains unclear from available reporting, the timing and nature of the proposal have intensified scrutiny of how the military institution honors its history and whom it chooses to memorialize.
Johnson's public opposition signals that any such move would face organized resistance from civil rights advocates and potentially broader political backlash. The NAACP's statement underscores the symbolic weight attached to military ship naming conventions. Names of vessels serve as permanent markers of national values and historical memory, and changing them carries profound implications for how institutions acknowledge their past and present identities.
The Navy has not issued a formal confirmation of whether such renaming discussions actually occurred or whether they remain under consideration. The service branch's response to Johnson's criticism and the NAACP's position will likely determine whether this remains a matter of internal debate or escalates into a broader public controversy.
This controversy arrives amid ongoing national debates about historical monuments, military naming conventions, and how institutions address legacies of racism. The potential renaming of a ship dedicated to a groundbreaking Black military hero would represent a striking reversal of recent efforts toward greater historical inclusivity within the armed services.