Brownsville Affair
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The Brownsville Affair rose out of racial tensions between black soldiers and white citizens in Brownsville, Texas in 1906.
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[edit] Background
The Brownsville Affair arose out of racial tensions between the white residents of Brownsville, Texas and the all black infantryman of the 25th United States Regiment at nearby Fort Brown.
Since arriving at Fort Brown, the black soldiers were subject to intense racial discrimination and hatred from the white citizens of Brownsville. As a result of these racial tensions, a fight broke out between a black soldier and a local Brownsville merchant. The city of Brownsville barred members of the 25th U.S. Regiment from setting foot in the city again.
[edit] August 13, 1906
On the night of August 13, 1906, shots rang out on a street near Brownsville, killing a white bartender and wounding a white police officer. Immediately the citizens of Brownsville cast the blame on the black soldiers of the 25th Regiment at Fort Brown. With the soldiers of the 25th Regiment being accused of the shootings, the all white commanders at Fort Brown confirmed that, in fact, all of the soldiers were in their barracks at the time of the shootings. However, this was not enough to deter local whites, including Brownsville's mayor, from claiming that some of the black soldiers participated in the shootings.
[edit] The evidence
Local townspeople of Brownsville began providing "evidence" of the 25th Regiment's part in the shooting by producing spent bullet cartridges from Army rifles that they said belonged to the 25th's men. Despite the contradictory evidence that demonstrated the spent shells were actually planted in order to frame the 25th Regiment's role in the shootings, investigators accepted the statements of the local whites and the Brownsville mayor.
[edit] The results
When soldiers of the 25th Regiment were pressured to name who fired the shots, they insisted that they had no idea who had committed the crime. The soldiers were not given any type of hearing, trial, or the opportunity to confront their accusers (all rights guaranteed to U.S. Citizens in the Constitution). As a result, President Theodore Roosevelt ordered 167 of the black troops dishonorably discharged because of their "conspiracy of silence". This dishonorable discharge prevented these 167 men from ever working in a military or civil service capacity. Some of the black soldiers had been in the U.S. Army for over twenty years, while others were extremely close to retirement with pension. In addition, six of the accused soldiers were recipients of the Medal of Honor. All of this was taken away from them, without a shred of evidence to prove their guilt.
Even Booker T. Washington got involved, asking President Roosevelt to reconsider his decision in the affair. Roosevelt instead dismissed Washington's plea and allowed his decision to stand.
[edit] Congress steps in
From 1907-1908, a United States Senate committee investigated the Brownsville Affair, and reached the same decision as President Roosevelt. Blacks, and many whites, across America were outraged at President Roosevelt and Congress. The black community, which had largely supported President Roosevelt before (due to Roosevelt hosting Booker T. Washington at a White House dinner, and Roosevelt's occassional condemnation of lynchings), began to turn against him. Even worse, news of the discharged soldiers was withheld until after the 1906 Congressional elections, so that the pro-Republican black vote would not be affected.
[edit] The Brownsville Raid
In 1970, John D. Weaver (a white man) published The Brownsville Raid which investigated the affair in depth. Mr. Weaver argued that the accused members of the 25th Regiment were in fact innocent. As a result of Mr. Weaver's book, the U.S. Army conducted a new investigation on the affair. In 1972, the Army found the accused members of the 25th Regiment innocent, and President Roosevelt's order of 1906 was reversed.
[edit] Granted Pardon
The Nixon Administration overturned all of the accused soldier's dishonorable discharges, but refused to grant their families the back pay in pensions. Still maintaining the Regiment's innocence, Dorsie Willis, the last surviving veteran, received a meager $25,000 pension.
[edit] References
- Wormser, Richard. "Jim Crow Stories: The Brownsville Affair." The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow. 2002. Educational Broadcasting Corporation. 10 April 2006.[1]
- Weaver, John D. The Brownsville Raid. New York: W. W. Norton and Company Inc., 1970.
- "Discharged Without Honor: The Brownsville Raid." History's Mysteries. The History Channel. 2000.
