Coast Guard Says Swastika and Noose Displays Are No Longer Hate Incidents; The New York Times, November 20, 2025

 John Ismay and Minho Kim, The New York Times; Coast Guard Says Swastika and Noose Displays Are No Longer Hate Incidents

 "The Coast Guard is redefining how it views harassment across the service, discarding the concept of “hate incidents” and recasting symbols of hatred, including nooses and swastikas, as potentially “politically divisive.”

In the past, the display of such symbols was unambiguously cited in policy as “incidents of hatred and prejudice” that “have no place in the Coast Guard.”

But the revised edition of the policy, which goes into effect next month, raises the bar for proving that displaying hate symbols in public merits punishment.

The new instructions, described in a document titled “Harassing Behavior Prevention, Response and Accountability,” was signed Nov. 13 by the Coast Guard’s assistant commandant for personnel, Rear Adm. Charles E. Fosse."

U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols; The Washington Post, November 20, 2025

 

Tara Copp

 and 

Michelle Boorstein

, The Washington Post; U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols

[Kip Currier: How dare this administration reclassify and downgrade the Nazi swastika and noose as anything less than the symbols of hatred and violence that they are.

This is abhorrent, abnormal behavior that is contrary to American values and ideals.]

[Excerpt]

"The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika — an emblem of fascism and white supremacy inextricably linked to the murder of millions of Jews and the deaths of more than 400,000 U.S. troops who died fighting in World War II — as a hate symbol, according to a new policy that takes effect next month.

Instead, the Coast Guard will classify the Nazi-era insignia as “potentially divisive” under its new guidelines. The policy, set to take effect Dec. 15, similarly downgrades the classification of nooses and the Confederate flag, though display of the latter remains banned, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post."

Southerners Tore Down Silent Sam. Now Northerners Need to Tear Down Confederate Flags.; HuffPost, August 29, 2018

Alex Pareene, HuffPost; Southerners Tore Down Silent Sam. Now Northerners Need to Tear Down Confederate Flags.

"At a certain point, we stopped telling ourselves about how we freed the United States."

Julieta Chiquillo, Dallas Morning News; 

Why the Supreme Court protects offensive trademarks but not Texas plates with Confederate flag

"When Alito struck down efforts to equate the Oregon case with the one in Texas, he highlighted three points:

First, license plates have long been used by states to convey messages. Second, license plates are usually identified with the state because they are considered a form of government ID, one that is manufactured by the state and generally designed by the state. Third, Texas "maintained direct control" of the messages in its plates.

"None of these factors are present in this case," Alito wrote in The Slants opinion."