No Niggers or Dogs Allowed- The Reexamination of the Brownsville Affair

ISBN-13: 9783836434164 / Angielski / Miękka / 2007 / 68 str.

Ricardo Malbrew

Opis

The argument of reparations on behalf of African-Americans based on slaverycontinues well into the 21st Century here in America. Can a gross miscarriageof injustice in 1906 sway the arguments for compensatory damages becomevalid based on racism? The case of the all-black 25th Infantry of the UnitedStates Army in the Brownsville Affair is perhaps one of the most egregiousevents in American history. On the night of August 13, 1906, a group of anonymousmen went on a shooting rampage throughout the town of Brownsville,Texas, leaving one person dead and another wounded. There had beenhostilities between black soldiers and white civilians prior to the shootings;therefore, it did not take long for local authorities to assume the collectiveguilt of black soldiers. Without an adequate investigation or a full hearing,President Roosevelt bowed to public pressure and issued dishonorabledischarges to all members of the 25th who were stationed in Brownsville. Followingtheir immediate discharge from the United States Army in December1906, many of these soldiers were refused civilian employment due to theirmilitary status. This book is a reexamination of the Brownsville affair and itsaftermath and seeks to make a case for restitution on behalf of the dischargedsoldiers and their families.