African-American mutinies in the United States Armed Forces

There have been several mutinies by African-Americans in the United States Armed Forces, often owing to racial tension.

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.[1]

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.[2][3]

In 1944, a large number of African-Americans refused to load munitions after hundreds of their fellow African-American soldiers were killed in the Port Chicago disaster. The soldiers 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,[4] Fort Bragg, Camp Robinson, Camp Davis, Camp Lee, and Fort Dix, among others.[5] Black soldiers fired on white soldiers in mutinies at Camp Claiborne and Brookley Air Force Base.[6]

USS Kitty Hawk riot

The USS Kitty Hawk riot has also been described as a mutiny.[7]

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". Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  3. "Queensland historian reveals World War II cover-up". ABC News. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  4. "The Milwaukee Journal – Google News Archive Search". Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  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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