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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy has exonerated 256 Black sailors who were found to be unjustly punished in 1944 following a horrific port explosion that killed hundreds of service members and exposed racist double standards among the then-segregated ranks.
On July 17, 1944, munitions being loaded onto a cargo ship detonated, causing secondary blasts that ignited 5,000 tons (4,535 metric tonnes) of explosives at Port Chicago naval weapons station near San Francisco.
The explosion killed 320 sailors and civilians, nearly 75% of whom were Black, and injured another 400 personnel. Surviving Black sailors had to pick up the human remains and clear the blast site while white officers were granted leave to recuperate.
The pier was a critical ammunition supply site for forces in the Pacific during World War II, and the job of loading those ships was left primarily to Black enlisted sailors overseen by white officers.
Before the explosion, the Black sailors working the dock had expressed concerns about the loading operations. Shortly after the blast, they were ordered to return to loading ships even though no changes had been made to improve their safety.
The sailors refused, saying they needed training on how to more safely handle the bombs before they returned.
What followed affected the rest of their lives, including punishments that kept them from receiving honorable discharges even as the vast majority returned to work at the pier under immense pressure and served throughout the war. Fifty sailors who held fast to their demands for safety and training were tried as a group on charges of conspiracy to commit mutiny and were convicted and sent to prison.
The whole episode was unjust, and none of the sailors received the legal due process they were owed, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said in an interview with The Associated Press.
It was “a horrific situation for those Black sailors that remained,” Del Toro said. The Navy’s office of general counsel reviewed the military judicial proceedings used to punish the sailors and found “there were so many inconsistencies and so many legal violations that came to the forefront,” he said.
Thurgood Marshall, who was then a defense attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, defended the 50 sailors who were convicted of mutiny. Marshall went on to become the first Black justice on the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, the 80th anniversary of the Port Chicago disaster, Del Toro signed paperwork officially clearing the sailors, who are now deceased. Del Toro handed the first pen to Thurgood Marshall Jr., the late justice’s son.
The exonerations “are deeply moving,” Marshall Jr. said. “They, of course, are all gone, and that’s a painful aspect of it. But so many fought for so long for that kind of fairness and recognition.”
President Joe Biden said the decision to exonerate is “righting a historic wrong.”
In the appeal of their courts martial convictions, then-NAACP attorney Marshall wrote that “justice can only be done in this case by a complete reversal of findings,” Biden said in a statement. “With this action, we are answering that call.”
The events have stung surviving family members for decades, but an earlier effort in the 1990s to pardon the sailors fell short. Two additional sailors were previously cleared — one was found mentally incompetent to stand trial, and one was cleared on insufficient evidence. Wednesday’s action goes beyond a pardon and vacates the military judicial proceedings carried out in 1944 against all of the men.
“This decision clears their names and restores their honor and acknowledges the courage that they displayed in the face of immense danger,” Del Toro said.
The racism that the Black sailors faced reflected the military’s views at the time — ranks were segregated, and the Navy had only reluctantly opened some positions it considered less desirable to Black service members.
The official court of inquiry looking into why the explosion occurred cleared all the white officers and praised them for the “great effort” they had to exert to run the dock. It left open the suggestion that the Black sailors were to blame for the accident.
Del Toro’s action converts the discharges to honorable unless there were other circumstances surrounding them. After the Navy upgrades the discharges, surviving family members can work with the Department of Veterans Affairs on past benefits that may be owed, the Navy said.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Navy at https://apnews.com/hub/us-navy.
Last week Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting an investigation into the actions of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY 14) has also weighed in on the issue recently filing an impeachment article against the Justice yesterday.
“The unchecked corruption crisis on the Supreme Court has now spiraled into a constitutional crisis threatening American democracy writ large,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a press release.
Thomas has admittedly accepted gifts ranging from vacations, free private jet travel and even a home from benefactors that largely went undisclosed until last year.
“The scale of the potential ethics violations by Justice Thomas, and the willful pattern of disregard for ethics laws, exceeds the conduct of other government officials investigated by the Department of Justice for similar violations,” the two lawmakers wrote in their July 3 letter. “The breadth of the omissions uncovered to date, and the serious possibility of additional tax fraud and false statement violations by Justice Thomas and his associates, warrant the appointment of a special counsel to investigate this misconduct.”
As months continue to pass, watchdogs have continued to discover even more luxurious experiences offered to Thomas by Republican donors like billionaire Harlan Crow that total over $4 million. Leaders are growing frustrated with the inability to hold justices and others like the former president accountable for egregious acts.
“The Senate is not a prosecutorial body, and the Supreme Court has no fact-finding function of its own, making the executive role all the more important if there is ever to be any complete determination of the facts,” the memo ascertained.
Thomas, a staunch conservative is the longest-serving member of the Court believes he is in compliance with the law.
“Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable,” Thomas said last year. “I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines.”
Supporters like Crow have called the gifts forms of “hospitality” and also see nothing wrong with the multi-million dollar ventures. After the formal request from senators for an investigation, it is now up to the Department of Justice to decide if they will pursue further examination of the claims.
Disability Pride Month in July now represents self-love and validation for Dustin Jones, but it took discovering his strength through advocacy and witnessing other people with disabilities living “amazing” lives to get there.
Initially, he was unhappy with himself after sustaining injuries 13 years ago. At the time, Jones knew nothing about disability pride and wasn’t connected to the pride community. Meanwhile, environmental racism made navigating a dilapidated Jamaica Avenue difficult in a hospital wheelchair for the Southeast Queens resident. He made complaints, but the conditions persisted.
“I feel like there aren’t enough resources naturally for young Black men to make them feel positive about themselves,” said Jones. “It’s double time when you’re a person who is Black with a disability.”
Ultimately, he reached out to the civil rights group Disabled In Action for assistance. The helping hand they provided soon became open arms and Jones got involved in disability rights.
“I fell in love with it,” he said. Today, Jones is a board member for the Center For Independence of the Disabled, New York (CIDNY) and runs his own organization, United for Equal Access New York, which fights for disability rights on rideshare services.
Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio designated July as Disability Pride Month back in 2015, which marked the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passing Congress. About 11% of New York City’s population lives with a disability.
Commissioner Christina Curry of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) cut her teeth in the nonprofit sector through the Harlem Independent Living Center before her appointment. She said accessibility victories during her time uptown were broad victories for the public, even though many are hidden from plain sight throughout 125th Street and neighboring streets, such as ramps used by parents pushing strollers to curb cuts, the sidewalk dips that allow wheels to roll onto a crosswalk.
“If you make it accessible for the community, you make it accessible for all,” said Curry. “The [Accessible Pedestrian Signals are] not just for people with no [or] low vision. Now it’s for others, too—I can cross the street safely if I’m visiting from another country and can’t figure out how Americans are driving…Curb cuts make it accessible for all—if you’re dragging your suitcase with you, trying to find those two or three hotels in Harlem, [it] makes it easier if you can go down the curb cut.” While CIDNY executive director Dr. Sharon McLennon-Wier agreed that disability rights serve universal public interest, she also believes race plays a crucial role within advocacy. In quick succession, she listed seven core issues: physical health, mental health, housing, education, employment, transportation, and voting.
“These are the seven critical areas of life that we all have to deal with,” said McLennon-Wier. “Now, if you are disabled and Black, and also have other [intersections] of gender, sexual orientation, etc., those seven outcomes are going to be a lot less [difficult] for you. There’s been some changes since 1990, but the fact of the matter is that [for] a long time, slavery impacted people of color here in the United States and having a disability on top of that further exacerbates the disparity that you see within those seven outcomes that are life-changing.
“As disability organizations and advocates, we are striving for the greater good of the population. However, we do recognize that there are many, many disparities [in] outcomes and achievement based on race.”
She pointed to employment as a key issue, mentioning a pay gap that she faces as a counseling psychologist compared to white people in her field who live with the same disability. McLennon-Wier also said that her credentials are sometimes challenged due to her identity.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor found over a 10% unemployment rate among Black people with disabilities—the highest of any group. Black people with disabilities also register the lowest labor force participation rate, at roughly 32%. The national average for people with disabilities is at around 40%.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, in the sense of having pay equity for different careers, making sure that those that are able to work, however much they can work—maybe full-time, maybe part-time—should still work within dignity,” said McLennon-Wier. “They should still get a living wage based on the level of performance, credentials, and experience.”
Curry said an $8.8 million investment last year toward career advancement for people with disabilities is a key solution. The goal is to assist them in living independently and serve as a pathway to reducing historical racial disparities in employment among people with disabilities.
“The initiative that [Mayor Eric Adams] has charged MOPD with [is] working with 2,500 people who self-identify as disabled in connecting them to real jobs [and] real careers,” said Curry. “The reason why we stress ‘real’ is because historically, those who were disabled were shunted off. [A] résumé could say that you should have been working in NASA and now you’re showing up at an agency where they put you in the mailroom.”
While New York City observes its eighth official Disability Pride Month, federal recognition eludes the occasion. In fact, rollout remains a work in progress. California only officially designated July as Disability Pride Month statewide a week ago. The City of Detroit hosted its first official Disability Pride celebration this month. Nationwide, though, Black-led efforts predate any government mandate.
“Being in America, I personally have experienced racism, especially from my peers during my school years and being disabled on top of it,” said Detroit-based activist Tameka Citchen-Spruce. “My interactions with certain people haven’t always been positive because I have experienced racism and ableism. It makes a weird paradox, dealing with [it]. Based on how people treat me, is it because of race or is [it] because of a disability?”
The National Black Disability Coalition member said she often showcases her advocacy through storytelling as a filmmaker, such as her documentary “My Girl Story,” which examines Black girlhood while living with a disability. She sees such stories as crucial. After all, disability rights often lurk within Black history for prominent figures like Harriet Tubman.
“I urge people to accept themselves, love themselves, to be proud of themselves as disabled people, but then also as Black people, Because wonderful ancestors paved the way for us in Black spaces and [also] disability spaces,” said Citchen-Spruce. “[Those who] were Black at this table, like Brad Lomax, Johnnie Lacy, and Dennis Billups—these people fought [for] the Rehabilitation Act, which helped push the ADA.”
Back in 1973, the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act provided formative federal disability rights protections, but an incomplete rollout three years later led to a sit-in protest in San Francisco. Figures such as the Black Panther Lomax participated, but such contributions are often lost to time unless others recount them.
Here in New York City, the Disability Pride Parade originally lined up with Disability Pride Month until the pandemic shutdown. After the COVID-19–related hiatus, the event now returns each October to mark National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Jones lamented the shift, likening the pre-pandemic parade to a family reunion for people with disabilities. A spokesperson from City Hall said the decision occurred due to heat concerns.
While the parade now occurs in the fall, July remains a busy time for disability pride. Events in Central Park and Brooklyn Borough Hall celebrated the occasion last week. As Curry said, Disability Pride Month means an opportunity to engage with the public through events and introducing resources to New Yorkers. But what about on a personal level?
“Just being there as a disabled person with a hearing loss, it’s a great time for me to see people within the deaf community,” Curry said. “Chatting and talking to people that I know from Harlem and Northern Manhattan—it’s just a good time to be out there while I’m sweating heavily.”
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
