i ^ " - 2004_____________ $)
B lack H istory M onth
___________ P ag A i
Black Soldiers in Defense of America
Troops from the Revolution to Iraq serve bravely despite racism
E d ito r's note: The Portland
Observer celebrates Black History
Month by honoring those who
fought so bravely on the battle
fields only to come home to the
cruel realities o f racism.
black b attalio n s co n tinued to
square off face-to-face with the
worst of enemies regardless of the
odds.
other general support labor. In
Western Maryland, “Negro Moun
tain” is named for a black man who
died there fighting Indians.
Crispus Attucks was the first
African American to die in battle for
the United States in what led up to
the Revolutionary War, which freed
this country from British rule.
To understand the wide web of
prejudice that still lurks about us,
we only need to fast-forward to
present day America when two
young women were captured and
injured as prisoners of war. Jessica
Lynch, a young white woman be
came the poster child for women in
the armed forces, while Shoshana
Johnson, a young African-Ameri
can woman had little mention in the
media coverage. Only when blacks
and whites alike complained in mass
Early Patriots
Prior to the colonial times, an
by R on W eber
African by the name of Estevanico
T he P ortland O bserv er
landed in present day Florida with
Whether on the front lines in a group of Spanish explorers who
mortal combat, in fierce battles in had left Spain with 600 men. By the
the air or behind thundering guns time they reached the eastern
on the ocean, African Americans shores o f Texas, only Estevanico
have bravely fought for our nation and three Spaniards were still alive
fo r n early 300
due to battles with
years.
Native Americans.
U n w an ted in
D u rin g
the
A m erica’s early
1530s, the four ex
m ilitary , blacks
p lorers traveled
volunteered and
on foot, ending up
d em a n d e d
the
in w hat is now
righttofightforthe
M e x ic o
C ity.
very country that
Estevanico, also
d is c rim in a te d
known as “Little
a g a in st
them .
S te v e n ,” is b e
These brave sol
lieved to have died
diers were gener
fighting Mexican
ally only brought
Indians in current
in on an “as
day so u th w e st
needed” basis and Cathay Williams disguised
America. He is still
then let go imme herself as a man to fight in on record as the
diately after each the U.S. Army as a Buffalo
first black man to
major battle or war, Soldier.
travel across the
leaving m ilitary
southern United
pensions and other benefits for States and also the first black man
whites only.
to die in combat in the Americas.
Even thought they were forced
Another black man, named Di
into non-combat support services, ego, sailed the high seas in the
they held out, hoping to be sent
1570s with Sir Francis Drake. Some
to the battlefields of honor. -
say he died in the
Still, America treated the ¿Ok
Caribbean fight
descen d en ts o f A frica
ing Indians, oth
poorly.
ers believe he sur
Finally in the 20th Cen
vived and stayed
tury black fighters were
with the ship until
allo w ed to prove
D rake d ro p p ed
themselves. In all
him off on an is
phases of com
land near his birth
Sketch
bat and in all
place on their way
o f black
branches of the service
back to Europe.
Revolutionary
African-American sol
Prior to the trip
War soldier
diers showed for once
hom e,
D rake
Salem Poor.
and all that they could
sto p p ed on the
stand toe-to-toe with white men in West Coast of America to make
war. Though scores paid the ulti much needed ship repairs. It is here
mate price by giving up their lives. that Diego explored an area near
Crispus Attucks
(above and center
left) was a run
away slave from
Framingham,
Mass. He led the
charges against
British troops in
the “Boston
Massacre."
San Francisco making him the first
black man to walk in this part of the
nation.
Documentation dating to 1639
shows that white Americans were
afraid to allow black men to carry
guns or am m unition. V irginia
passed a law outlawing the owner
ship of guns by blacks. The colony
o f Amsterdam only allowed black
men to carry a tomahawk or a “half-
pike” to help whites fight Indians.
The first man of African descent
known to legally have the right to
bear arms was Abraham Pierce in
1643. By 1652, Massachusetts re
quired "all Negroes and Indians
between 16 and 60 to attend militia
training. However, during non-war
periods the law was revoked and
blacks were not allowed to carry
weapons.
By 1770, the black population
was 462,000. White Americans
feared they might have an uprising
and invoked new laws taking black
soldiers out of peace time militias.
Black women were also excluded
from any type of military duty or
support function, such as nurses,
supply clerks, cooks and similar
duties.
Ironically however, when w hite
soldiers fought m wars during this
period, black women were often left
in charge of their entire plantation
back home. The white man would
not trust a black woman anywhere
in the military and yet they gave
these women full control of their
homes and lands until they re
turned. Black men were also used
for scouts, wagoners, cooks, and
continued
on page A6
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