Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights Part 68

Universal military education for me and mine and all other Americans is his slogan, and his aim is to recreate the America of the early Seventies, which became hardened and callous through the years by reason of resistance to the German menace of autocracy, but now removed.

This American has made good in public. He has demonstrated both efficiency and initiative. He has compelled popular belief to conceive him as a man. The Caucasian world he has caused to perceive that he might function as a valuable and serviceable element of twentieth century civilization. Will the Anglo-Saxon issue to him the warrant of immunities and privileges certifying that he is four-square with the dominant opinion of mankind, and, therefore, ent.i.tled to superior status?

To this dark-skinned American are attributed all elements of beauty and racial grandeur. Forever in survival of the world's most fit, he goes on, blending readily with civilization's high ideal, philosophically tolerating abuse offered by the less refined, effecting a racial consciousness of purity in inter-social relations.h.i.+ps, adapting himself with symmetry and poise to the tasks of the world, and bowing in humble respect before the higher laws whose harmonies order and rectify all creation.

What will the black Rip Van Winkle behold as he walks through the corridors of the American Department of State twenty years hence? Will he behold a great black ma.s.s still at the veriest bottom of our governmental organization, or will he be caused to marvel at the synthetic gradations of black American from lowest to superior? As he views progress in all departments of the government, will he see this real American organized synthetically in all branches of the service, or will he behold him still employed as the boy or the mere high private?

Time and the great heart of America will tell.

The center of gravity of world interest of 1914 has s.h.i.+fted and come to rest at a spot most significant for darker peoples. Victory to all partic.i.p.ants in its glorious achievement must be less disastrous than defeat. In order to satisfy the liberal opinion of the world, some form of autonomy must be devised for the newly organized man in America.

Durable peace requires that American prejudice be utterly and forever stamped out; first by the reconstructed organization of the American Expeditionary Force, which beheld its organizations of every race and creed under fire and in action; second, by the American people of every locality, who have had forced upon them by world war the new concept of a branch of the species once considered inferior; and, third, by the powers of the world, who must prevent the upgrowths in America from offering malignant germs of unrest to their own systems of national government.

After the Negro has proved his value and worth in all of these trying ways, when after this he asks for a full measure of equal rights, what American will have the heart or the hardihood to say him nay?

THE NEGRO IN THE NAVY.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN NAVY--GUARDING THE TRANS-ATLANTIC ROUTE TO FRANCE--BATTLING THE SUBMARINE PERIL--THE BEST SAILORS IN ANY NAVY IN THE WORLD--MAKING A NAVY IN THREE MONTHS FROM NEGRO STEVEDORES AND LABORERS--WONDERFUL ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF OUR NEGRO YEOMEN AND YEOWOMEN.

Stranger than fiction, the story of the organization, development and expansion of the United States navy from a mere atom, as it were, to the present time, when her electrically propelled men-of-war, equipped with the most luxurious compartments and modern mechanism for despatch and communication as well as her great merchant marine, floating the emblem of freedom and democracy in every civilized port of the world, is one of the most fascinating pages in the history of human achievement.

And, as it were, the very culmination of wonder and admiration, the chain of events reciting the deeds of valor and unselfish devotion to duty upon the part of her black sons, const.i.tutes an ill.u.s.trious record easily marking its partic.i.p.ants as conspicuous representatives of a people, who have won their tardily conceded recognition in every phase of American public life.

The services of the Negro in the American navy very properly begin with the stirring and thrilling events of the American Revolution, which terminated in the independence of the colonies and the establishment of the United States.

THE NEGRO IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

The Negro in the navy was then and has been ever since no less devoted to duty and as fearless of death as Crispus Attucks, when he fell on Boston Commons, the first martyr of American independence.

In speaking of colored seamen, who showed great heroism, Nathaniel Shaler, commander of the private armed schooner _General Thompson_, said of an engagement between his vessel and a British frigate: "The name of one of my poor fellows, who was killed, ought to be registered in the book of fame, and remembered with reverence as long as bravery is considered a virtue. He was a black man by the name of John Johnson. A twenty-four pound shot struck him in his hip, and took away all the lower part of his body. In this state, the poor brave fellow lay on the deck, and several times exclaimed to his s.h.i.+pmates, 'Fire away, my boy!

No haul color down!' Another black by the name of John Davis was wounded in much the same way. He fell near me, and several times requested to be thrown overboard, saying he was only in the way of others. When America can boast of such tars she has little fear from the tyrants of the ocean."

British gold and promises of personal freedom served as futile incentives among the Negroes of the American navy; for them, the proud consciousness of duty well done served as a constant monitor and nerved their strong black arms when thundering shot and sh.e.l.l menaced the future of the country; and, although African slavery was still a recognized legal inst.i.tution and const.i.tuted the basic fabric of the great food productive industry of the nation, it was the Negro's trusted devotion to duty which ever guided him in the nation's darkest hours of peril and menace.

NEGROES IN THE WAR OF 1812.

In the second period, the War of 1812, a second fight with Great Britain, again made it necessary to call upon the Negro for his a.s.sistance. Whether with Perry on Lake Erie, Commodore MacDonough, Lawrence or Chauncey, the black man played his heroic and sacrificing role, struggling and dying that American arms and valor, the security of American lives and property, would suffer no destruction at the hands of the enemy. The fine words of Commodore Chauncey, commending their dauntless intrepidity and unswerving obedience and loyalty to the rigorous demands of duty, should be read and carefully studied by all men friendly to human excellence and courage.

COMMODORE CHAUNCEY'S TRIBUTE.

The following is a statement of Commodore Perry, expressing dissatisfaction at the troops sent him on Lake Erie: "I have this moment received by express the enclosed letter of General Harrison. If I had officers and men,--and I have no doubt that you will send them,--I could fight the enemy and proceed up the lake; but, having no one to command the _Majestic_ and only one commissioned officer and two acting lieutenants, whatever my wishes may be, getting out is out of the question. The men that came by Mr. Champlin are a motley set,--blacks, soldiers, and boys. I can not think that you saw them after they were selected. I am, however, pleased to see anything in shape of a man."

The following is the reply from Commodore Chauncey to Commodore Perry in answer to the above letter: "Sir, I have been duly honored with your letters of the 23d and 26th ultimo and notice your anxiety for men and officers. I am equally anxious to furnish you; and no time shall be lost in sending officers and men to you as soon as the public service will allow me to send them from this lake. I regret that you are not pleased with the men sent you by Messrs. Champlin and Forest; for, to my knowledge, a part of them are not surpa.s.sed by any seamen we have in the fleet; and I have yet to learn that the color of skin, or the cut and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of the coat, can affect a man's qualifications and usefulness.

"I have nearly fifty blacks on board this s.h.i.+p, and many of them are among my best men, and I presume that you will find them as good and useful as any on board your vessel; at least if you can judge by comparison; for those which we have on board this s.h.i.+p are attentive and obedient, and, as far as I can judge, are excellent seamen. At any rate, the men sent to Lake Erie have been selected with the view of sending a proportion of petty officers and seamen and I presume upon examination, it will be found that they are equal to those upon this lake."

THE COLORED MAN IN THE MEXICAN WAR.

In the Mexican War (1845-1848) we find him, in his humble positions of service and usefulness, a positive factor in the final success and triumph of American ideals. No insidious treacheries, no dark plots of poison, arson and unfaithfulness characterized his conduct, and, in the final and complete blockade of the Mexican ports, his contribution of faithful and loyal service made effective the terms by which Generals Scott and Taylor taught the ever-observed lesson of American dominance upon the Western Hemisphere and thereby preserved the Monroe Doctrine.

IN THE DAYS OF THE CIVIL WAR.

In the Civil War--when the violence of domestic strife menaced the continuance of the National Union; when the preservation of slavery const.i.tuted the subject of angry and stormy debate in every section of the country, it was in the navy, no less than in the army, that the Negro evinced that dauntless fidelity to duty which aided in stabilizing the discipline of the field forces, thereby effectively contributing to the success not alone of forcing the Mississippi, and intersecting the Confederacy, but also in hermetically sealing all Southern ports and reducing to imperceptible insignificance the possibility of foreign trade with the South,--a factor which made it doubly sure that Northern arms would ultimately triumph and the Union be saved. It was a colored man, Robert Small, who single handed, stole the Union cruiser _Panther_ from Charleston harbor, foiled the Confederate fleet, and navigated her safely to a Union port. In all the annals of courage and dazzling gallantry, this incident has been recited; and it const.i.tutes a commendable example, with many others, however, of devotion to duty and undying love for freedom. Mr. Small became a successful business man, and was one of the few Negroes who served in the Congress of the United States.

THE NEGRO IN THE SPANISH WAR.

The Spanish-American War (1898-1900) also has its roll of honorable dead and surviving heroes--it was a Negro who fired the first shot at Manila Bay, from the cruiser _Olympia_, flag s.h.i.+p of the late Admiral Dewey, commanding the American forces on the Asiatic station. He was John Christopher Jordan, chief gunner's mate (retired) U.S.N. His career is a fair example of the Negro's ability. He was first enlisted in the United States navy on June 17, 1877, as an apprentice of the third cla.s.s, the very lowest rating in which he could have entered. He advanced, despite opposition, through the different grades in direct compet.i.tion with his white s.h.i.+pmates to the grade of chief gunner's mate, the highest rating that could be reached in the enlisted status.

It was not because of his lack of desire for further advancement that he did not go higher, nor was it due to his not being qualified, for it was conceded by all officers under whom he served that he was thoroughly competent and highly qualified for advancement. He was finally recommended by his superior officer for the position of warrant gunner, and the papers pa.s.sed up for final approval by the commander-in-chief of the fleet, before being sent to the secretary of the navy. There he encountered the Negro's most formidable foe--prejudice. That official very unceremoniously forwarded the papers to the navy department with the following endors.e.m.e.nt: "Respectfully forwarded to the secretary of the navy--disapproved. The explanation of disapproval will be found in the applicant's descriptive list."

However, this slur did not deter Jordan in his determination to go higher, for at the battle of Manila he was a gunner's mate of the first cla.s.s, and his record was so conspicuous that it could not go unnoticed by the officials in Was.h.i.+ngton.

FINAL RECOGNITION.

The following letter was then addressed to Jordan's commanding officer by the bureau of navigation: "The Bureau notes that John C. Jordan, gunner's mate first cla.s.s, has served as such with a creditable service since August 6, 1899. The chief of bureau directs me to request an expression of opinion from the commanding officer as to whether Jordan possesses that superior intelligence, force of character and ability to command, necessary for a chief petty officer and particularly as to whether he is in all respects qualified for the position of chief gunner's mate of a first-cla.s.s modern battles.h.i.+p."

[Ill.u.s.tration: COLORED YEOWOMEN.

Employees of Navy Department, Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROBERT McCRAY.

Seaman. Lost on the U.S.S. ALCEDO, November 5, 1917.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: LEWIS H. HARDWICK.

Mess Attendant, 3c, U.S.N. Lost on U.S.S. CYCLOPS, June 14, 1918.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ERCELL WILLIAM MARTIN.

Mess Attendant, 3c, U.S.N. Killed when sh.e.l.l exploded on board U.S. Von STEUBEN, March 5, 1918.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PRINCE A. JOHNSON.

Mess Attendant, 2c, U.S.N.R.F. Died from exposure after Lake Moor was sunk, April 11, 1918.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: HUBERT ALFRED JOHNSON.

Mess Attendant, 2c, U.S.N.