Sunday, February 24, 2013

The "mistake" that delayed justice for Dorsie and company.

*I know that Americans consider him one of their greater presidents, and that his image is carved out on Mount Rushmore, but I am not feeling any Teddy Roosevelt love right about now.

It's still "Black History Month" so I feel a need to share an article I read in my hometown paper about the aforementioned Teddy Roosevelt today.

"President Obama recently told an interviewer, "I make a mistake every hour, every day." This is a good sign.

We all make mistakes, but we won't all admit it. When that happens at the presidential level, there can be far-reaching harm. One spectacular, yet little known, example occurred during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt. On Nov. 5, 1906, Roosevelt dishonorably discharged 167 members of the all-black 25th Infantry, who had been falsely accused in the shooting death of a white bartender in Brownsville, Texas, that summer. Historian Lewis L. Gould would later call Roosevelt's action "one of the most glaring miscarriages of justice in American history." Ohio Sen. Joe Foraker objected, and asked for a trial so the soldiers could speak in their own defense. "They ask for no favors because they are Negroes, but only for justice because they are men," he said. A New York Times editorial concluded that Roosevelt had done a great wrong. But the president refused to reverse his decision. The men were dismissed without honor or trial, denied pensions, and barred from civil service positions. Roosevelt would never admit having made a mistake in the case and there is no mention of it in his autobiography. Sixty years later, a writer named John D. Weaver embarked on a campaign to exonerate the soldiers. He dug up the documents of the original trials and Senate hearings on the episode, and visited the small Texas town where the soldiers had been stationed. Weaver published The Brownsville Raid in 1970, setting forth the true story of the events that led to Roosevelt's order. The book prompted immediate calls for a reinvestigation. In 1972, the Army found the men of the 25th Infantry innocent, and they were subsequently pardoned and awarded honorable discharges by President Richard M. Nixon. The last survivor among the accused,* Dorsie Willis, was awarded a pension. In a 2006 ceremony marking the centennial of the Brownsville case, U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, an Army veteran from Texas, said, "Today, we take a hard look at our past. When we acknowledge our mistakes, we become better citizens." [More]

Thank goodness for people like John D. Weaver. President Roosevelt did make a mistake, but not in his mind, which is why he never "reversed his decision". I am just glad that we have history. History never changes, and fortunately you can't spin it. It's always there for us to learn about.

Finally, why is the po po in NoCal messing with MC Hammer? That's Hammer for crying out loud! Leave the man alone!

Stay "legit" hammer, just please don't bring back those parachute pants.

18 comments:

Dr. Nuwang said...

Okay Field, I'm REALLY not happy about the MC Hammer story in this post, LOL!!!

Anonymous said...

Dr Nuwang, WHY are you laughing at what they did to MC Hammer? Northern Cali is a racist area. And Field, you need to emphasize this racist bullshit!

You need to ask WHY you are being so soft on the police in Dublin. They arrested a famous black man who was just driving his car. That is driving while Black! That is Bullshit. I am really upset about this.

Anonymous said...

Can somebody tell me which one of those carved out heads on Mt. Rushmore is Ted Kennedy?

Twosqueegee Airman said...

They ask for no favors because they are Negroes

What? That's all negroes do - ask for favors.

And I am sure they were guilty, despite the revisionism applied 60 years later.

1972 was after America 1.0 changed to Black Run America (BRA). In BRA, all government activities must cater to black people's sensibilities. America 1.0 went to the moon. BRA has 50 million people on food stamps.

field negro said...

"Twosqueegee", don't you have some sheets to wash?

"You need to ask WHY you are being so soft on the police in Dublin. They arrested a famous black man who was just driving his car. That is driving while Black! That is Bullshit. I am really upset about this."

Just another dog bites man story. Move along, nothing to see here.

Twosqueegee Airman said...

field negro said...
"Twosqueegee", don't you have some sheets to wash?

I get my robes and hoods dry-cleaned and pressed. Clothes make the man, and you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Anonymous said...

"You need to ask WHY you are being so soft on the police in Dublin. They arrested a famous black man who was just driving his car. That is driving while Black! That is Bullshit. I am really upset about this."

Field, replied, "Just another dog bites man story. Move along, nothing to see here."

9:40 PM
----------------------------------
I can't believe you said that. Where is your empathy and compassion for your black brother? There is a lot of shit to see in this story. Yet YOU minimize the hurt and abuse that has affected MC Hammer.

Field, I am surprised that you don't recognize the story of the black man in America in this story.

You are as removed from your people as Clarence Thomas. And that is pretty effing bad. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

You are depressing me. I thought I had overcome my depression then you come up with some shit like this that guarantees depression. I knew I should have stayed away from FN. This is truly messed up.

depressed Negro

Anonymous said...

Yes, you can change history if you don't like it, ask the racist black Memphis City Council

Folkways Note Book said...

Oh but we can spin history and we do all the time -- revisionists attempt to untangle the spin. barbara

field negro said...

Twosqueegee Airman, clothes makes the man, not the Klan.

field negro said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Field as per your sidebar P.R. Supremes, They are indeed living in the past, and I don't think that will change anytime soon.

I have a gay male friend, a wonderful, and I mean wonderful person, who many years ago wanted to adopt a baby girl that was abandoned at the hospital where he worked.

Well he was also single and so he knew it would be impossible.

To make a long story short his mother was able to adopt the baby for him and he has raised her, and she is almost a doctor today because of the love and care he has bestowed upon her!

Amen for gay parenting!





PilotX said...

Well, at least they didn't lynch those brothas. Normally when white folks make shit up they usually go for the death penalty. Sounds a lot like the Tuskegee Airmen who were reprimanded for going into the white officer's club. Racism is a bitch. Did you catch Henry Gates' PBS special where he talked about intellectual racism being the last remnants of racism left? I'm starting to dig him the more I listen. I also dug his blah Latino history special.

PilotX said...

Blah run amerikkka? Obviously a humor troll because if we ran this mufu she'd be run out on a rail.

Anonymous said...

Blogger PilotX said...

Blah run amerikkka? Obviously a humor troll because if we ran this mufu she'd be run out on a rail.

On the highway to Haiti and mud cookies.

field negro said...

Desertflower we need to run you for office in PR.

Anonymous said...

field negro8:35 PM
"Desertflower we need to run you for office in PR."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wooohoooo! I'll do it too:D

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr Field, I have been posting on FN for years, and you respond to your posters regularly, except me. Hell, you even give Frank a lot of play. Down South, this is an insult.

Why do you discriminate, brother?