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African-American mutinies in the United States Armed Forces

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There have been several mutinies by African-Americans in the United States Armed Forces, often owing to racism against African Americans in the U.S. military.

Houston Riot

The Houston Riot occurred in 1917 when a group of 156 African-American soldiers disobeyed orders from their superiors, seized weapons and attempted to march on the City of Houston. At courts-martial, nineteen soldiers were executed, and forty-one were given life sentences. The riot created a deep concern for black leaders who were not sure whether it was appropriate to praise an act of mutiny.

World War II

An Australian historian claims to have uncovered information that in 1942, the 96th Engineer Battalion, an African-American battalion stationed in Townsville, Australia, mutinied in response to racial discrimination, firing 700 machine-gun rounds into occupied tents of white officers.

In 1944, a large number of African-American sailors refused to load munitions after hundreds of their fellow African-American sailors were killed in the Port Chicago disaster. The sailors were charged with mutiny and given jail sentences that were later reduced.

In 1945, the Freeman Field Mutiny, was a series of incidents at Freeman Army Airfield, a United States Army Air Forces base near Seymour, Indiana, in 1945 in which African American members of the 477th Bombardment Group attempted to integrate an all-white officers' club. The mutiny resulted in 162 separate arrests of black officers, some of them twice.

Other notable African-American mutinies of World War II include those at Dale Mabry Field, Fort Bragg, Camp Robinson, Camp Davis, Camp Lee, and Fort Dix, among others. Black soldiers fired on white soldiers in mutinies at Camp Claiborne and Brookley Air Force Base.

USS Kitty Hawk riot

The 1972 USS Kitty Hawk riot has also been described as a mutiny.

See also

References

  1. James E. Westheider. The African American Experience in Vietnam: Brothers in Arms, p. 4
  2. "AM – Townsville WW2 mutiny uncovered by Queensland historian 10/02/2012". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  3. "Queensland historian reveals World War II cover-up". ABC News. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  4. "The Milwaukee Journal". Retrieved 28 August 2015 – via Google News Archive Search.
  5. Soldiers in revolt: GI resistance during the Vietnam War. p. 149.
  6. Kari A. Frederickson. The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932–1968. p. 31.
  7. Gregory A. Freeman. Troubled Water: Race, Mutiny, and Bravery on the USS Kitty Hawk. Macmillan, 2009.
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