Jackson City Council urges Pentagon to restore Medgar Evers name on Navy ship

The Jackson City Council on June 17 unanimously approved a resolution urging the Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy to reverse a decision to remove Medgar Evers’ name from the USNS Medgar Evers.

Council members and members of the Evers family attended the meeting to support the resolution. Councilman Aaron Banks introduced the item, calling Evers “a trailblazer … not just a civil rights (leader), but he also was a veteran.”

The resolution asks the Department of Defense and the Navy to restore the ship’s name; the council also directed the clerk to send copies of the resolution to the Mississippi Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, the Congressional Black Caucus, the African American Association of Mayors and to members of the Evers family in the order Myrlie Evers, Rayna Evers and Wanda Evers. Supervisor Wanda Evers and other family members spoke at the meeting. “It’s kind of a sad situation for the Evers family. My uncle fought in the war, not just for us, but for everybody,” one family speaker said.

Councilman Kenneth I. Stokes and others stressed the symbolic importance of preserving Evers’ name on the ship, noting his service in World War II and his civil-rights leadership. The item passed on a voice vote recorded as 7-0.

The council’s action is an expression of the municipal body's position; it does not compel federal action. The resolution cites the ship christening that occurred in February 2011 and frames the council’s request as a formal expression of support for the Evers family’s position.

The council recorded the motion, directed distribution of the resolution to the listed organizations, and approved the measure unanimously. No implementation steps beyond distribution of the resolution were specified at the meeting.