In July of 1944, an explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Base in California took the lives of 320 men. Subsequently, 50 Black sailors were charged with mutiny for not continuing to work under unsafe conditions. #VeteransDay 
.@NAACP_LDF Founder Thurgood Marshall sat in on the proceedings and witnessed the court sentence all 50 men to prison. In his notes on the proceedings, he said, “This is not 50 men on trial for mutiny. This is the Navy on trial for its whole vicious policy toward Negroes.”
This tragedy highlighted ongoing systemic racism in the US military & sparked public outrage, causing the Navy to work towards desegregation. By 1948, President Truman called for all branches of the armed forces to integrate their ranks.
LDF has a long legacy of challenging racial discrimination and injustice in the military. Today, learn more about @NAACP_LDF’s work with the armed forces and our efforts to ensure Black soldiers were treated justly, with dignity, and respect. tminstituteldf.org/tmi-briefs-ldf…
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