Port Chicago Mutiny Essay

Many causalities – black soldiers repeatedly risked their lives by exposing themselves to bullets being shot from the enemy’s side – all in an effort to win the war

Shankman discusses the view of the war, and the sinking of the Maine, from the perspective of the Methodist church. Throughout the church there was varying opinions of the explosion and the war itself. Some people believed that the war would be necessary, while others believed there was no need for a war. IN an editorial from a New York Methodist newspaper in April 1898: "Should we now go to war," insisted the Syracuse Northern Christian Advocate, "our cause will be just, and Methodism will be ready to do its full duty. Every Methodist preacher will be a recruiting officer” (Shankman, 1973). However, in the south, the Southern Christian Advocate pushed for people to help send aid to the Cubans that are refugees and on the island; some groups even set up soup kitchens and churches donated some money as charity. These opinions helped spread the divide after the attack on the Maine:

Since the time of slavery, racial tension has existed between whites and blacks. This tension has only increased with the passing of time. This conflict culminated in the 1940s in the form of mob violence. While there have been previous riots because of race relations, none of them were of the magnitude of the 1943 Detroit riot. Much like any other event involving racism in the 1940s, the Detroit riot has little coverage, most of which is skewed, in articles in the nation?s leading news sources such as ?Deep Trouble? in Time, ?Riotous Race Hate? in Newsweek, and ?The Truth About the Detroit Riot? in Harper?s. Thus, one must compare articles from these sources to ascertain accurate information. Even when

“President Johnson appointed Thurgood as the first African American Supreme court justice.” President Johnson was the one who took a stand, not Thurgood. Thurgood didn’t really take a stand much, other than being the first supreme court justice and supporting the president over countless supreme court cases. President Johnson did most of the work. Really, what Thurgood Marshall did was help the president at the time take a stand against segregation. The Jim Crow laws at the time were being destroyed, with not much help from Thurgood, and a bunch of work from President Johnson. Thurgood just supported the president for a few cases, and that was mostly it. Thurgood didn’t really take a

Thurgood Marshall is a man that went to court for colored kids and white kids to got to the same school. He went to court in October 1967 and won the trial in 1991.

The start of the Civil War was April 12, 1861 when Confederates attacked a Union fort. Fort Sumter took a heavy beating that day and would later surrender after the second day of the Confederates attacking (Roark et al. 424-5). Once the war started, the U.S. Navy created a blockade around the 3,500 miles of the South’s coastline. The fleet was originally just 36 ships, but it grew to 150 with new ships being added almost weekly. Few Confederate ships were able to cross the blockade, unless they were specially designed stealthy steam boats. These ships were known as “blockade runners” and were able to bring back important supplies like guns and medicine. But the blockade runners were in no way designed to destroy the Union’s blockade or even the ships that formed it for that matter. The Union’s navy was expanding too fast for the Confederates to keep up. The Confederacy decided to build two ironclad warships, the Merrimack and Virginia. These warships were powerful and sank two wooden Union ships. But the Union was not ready to give up their blockade without a fight. The Virginia was set to destroy the blockade the next morning, but it greated by the Monitor (Roark et al. 435). After a two hour battle, the ships called it a draw. Yet the Confederacy was never able to destroy the blockade using their own strength (Roark et al. 436).

One of Port Chicago 50’s “aha moments” was when all of the fifty men were found guilty of mutiny. At that point is when we found out that the trial was unfair, knowing that the men did not do what they were accused of. The definition of mutiny is to refuse to obey orders of a person in authority. They say they wouldn’t obey orders, they only said that they wouldn’t go back to the same work. And they had good reason to do so, or at least I believe they did. They said they wouldn’t go back to the same job as the place where the horrid mistake happened had been doing, known as Port Chicago 50. Not under the same working conditions. Something would have to change. They couldn’t just keep loading ammunition everyday, handling them improperly with no knowledge of how to load them the correct way. They couldn’t keep risking their lives everyday for the Navy when people didn’t even treat them like humans. What made it all worse was the reason they weren’t being treated like humans was because the majority of them were black. It’s such an important piece in history, but we haven’t learned about this event in any of our classes until now. Why you may ask? Because it was the Navy’s fault. The Navy was the one in the wrong here. They had only let black men be messmen and ammunition in unsafe conditions, and it had backfired on them.

During American involvement in the war, African Americans were listed and reenlisted on the military draft at higher rates than any other nationalities including whites and Latin-Americans (Westheider 9). As a result, more African Americans than any othe r minority fought and died in combat. In addition, they constantly faced racism. One militant protested forcefully against the unfair conditions: “You should see for yourself how the black man is being treated over here and the ay we are dying. When it comes to rank, we are left out. When it comes to special privileges, we are left out. When it comes to patrols, perataions and so forth, we are first” (Gallagher). According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., black youths represented an unequal share of early draftees and faced a significantly higher chance of seeing combat. “Rumors abounded that the U.S. government were using the Vietnam War as a form of genocide. Money was being pumped into Vietnam instead of poor black communities in America” (Gallegher).

In the book "Port Chicago 50" written by Steve Sheinkin, the final three chapters narrate the trial of the Port Chicago fifty men -including their leader, chosen by themselves, Joe Small-; which were arrested by charge of mutiny, because they refused to follow one order. They were found guilty and set as prisoners at Terminal Island. Thurgood Marshall fought for the fifty men and eventually they were freed and serving at sea. Still, white officers thought that they were guilty and discrimination went on, but they’re goal was accomplished; the Navy became the first branch of the U.S. military force to officially eliminate all of the racial barriers. Yet the Port Chicago fifty men remained convicted mutineers. The book “Port Chicago 50” surely highlights the theme of sacrifices brings rewards.

On July 17, 1944, there was an explosion at Port Chicago naval base. The first explosion was followed by a second massive explosion. More than a mile away, Navy personnel were thrown from their beds, windows were blown out and buildings collapsed. As men rushed down to the docks they found that it was completely blown away, along with the ships and all the personnel working there. There were no survivors to explain what caused this devastating accident. But the men assigned to move explosive ammunition from train cars to ships to be sent to troops overseas had a pretty good idea. They told a story of unfair working conditions, not enough training and dangerous competitions to see which teams could load their ships faster. So when they were asked to return to work on another dock to load explosives, they refused. They would not work with explosives unless the conditions improved. They were yelled at, they were imprisoned, they were threatened with the death sentence and some of them agreed to go back to work. In the end, 50 African-American sailors were charged with mutiny and court-martialed.

42 enhances the audience’s knowledge on what life was like in the late 1940s in the United States for a black man, and it displays the brutal treatment they received. In the beginning of the movie it talked about how if a black man served in the army they could receive respect there, but when

Crude oil is one of the world’s most valuable resources it is a multi-billion-dollar industry, has caused more problems ,each day we use this energy source. Causing severe damage to our surrounding environment. Gray harbor the largest city in Aberdeen, is being targeted by oil companies wanting to build Three New Oil-By-Rail terminals in this fishing industry part of Washington causing more traffic land and sea. Grays harbor offers great selection of fish both fresh and saltwater, the ecosystem within grays harbor is outstanding. By building new terminals in this location, it will not only damage the Grays Harbor's environment but also its economy. Washington government should not allow developers to build three new Oil-By-Rail Terminals in Grays harbor because it will impact the fishing industry.

“The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but a purpose.” Myles Munroe said that. As senior leaders you should know the difference between right and wrong and the consequences of your actions; by faking your own death just to remove yourself from the any given situation is not the answer nor is morally right. This paper will cover the events leading up to this Sailors fall from being the Commanding Officer of a nuclear submarine to being found guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman as well as myriad of other charges.

Since the beginning of its time, race has been an extremely controversial topic of American history. The case of the ship, Le Amistad, in 1839 perfectly exemplified the superiority that whites felt to blacks and the injustice of the system of slavery. Steven Spielberg’s Amistad details the journey taken by African slaves to gain freedom from their devastating situation. Although the film sheds light on slavery and evokes interest from the public to sympathize with the seemingly helpless African, there are also historical inaccuracies that may mislead the audience into forming thoughts about the subject that are not true.

Maya Angelou once said, “… let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” This is a great example of a powerful, independent, beautiful woman that any young girl would be lucky to have just a quarter of the integrity that she had. The idea of faith being the sole foundation that I walk upon each day has been embedded in my way of life since before birth. I was born on July, 10th 1994 to the parents of Kenny and Anita Crook who are still together and my family of origin and procreation. I have two sisters who are younger than I, Mckenzie who is 17, and Sydney who is 13. We all permanently reside in the same house, but I am