Product Description
The purpose of this study, commissioned by the Army, was to document the process by which the Congressional Medal of Honor was awarded from December 7, 1941, through September 1, 1948; to identify units in which African Americans served; to identify by name all black soldiers whose names were submitted for the medal and to document any errors in the processing of their nominations; and to compile a list of all black soldiers who received the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award. Based on this work, in January 1997 President Clinton awarded seven African Americans the Medal of Honor. The authors were selected by Shaw University of Raleigh, North Carolina, to conduct this study under a U.S. Army contract. ... Read more

Product Description
A dramatic and moving tribute to the military’s unsung heroes, American Patriots tells the story of the black servicemen and women who defended American ideals on the battlefield, even as they faced racism in the ranks and segregation on the home front. Through hundreds of original interviews with veterans of every war since World War I, historic accounts, and photographs, Gail Buckley brings these heroes and their struggles to life. We meet Henry O. Flipper, who withstood silent treatment from his classmates to become the first black graduate of West Point in 1877. And World War II infantry medic Bruce M. Wright, who crawled through a minefield to shield a fallen soldier during an attack. Finally, we meet a young soldier in Vietnam, Colin Powell, who rose through the ranks to become, during the Gulf War, the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Fourteen years in the making, American Patriots is a landmark chronicle of the brave men and women whose courage and determination changed the course of American history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Forgotten American History
Often American history has been incomplete when formally presented. The contributions of many Americans in establishing this nation have frequently been minimized, when any recognition is mentioned, or eliminated from public discourse entirely. This book gives a clearer view of the efforts and often sacrifices made by Americans of African descent for the love of their United States of America and in the hope of a better, more equitable country for their children.

The documentation of these historical facts should assure even the most skeptical of reviewers in the accuracy of reflecting these past events and deeds. This book is truly a fuller documentation of American history during the most critical and important times of our nation.

A Brilliant Work Whose Time Has Come!
Gail Buckley's extensively researched and lengthy book flows from page to page as it chronicles the Black soldier from the earliest beginnings of the Colonial era to the frontlines of Viet Nam to the dusty corridors of the Persian Gulf.Names, familiar and unknown, are introduced and profiled with ease by the author.The prejudices and biases endured by these gallant men and women make their respective stories an inspirational journey into the human spirit and willingness to overcome.

A few photographs are found mid-length and provide the reader with a view of the heroes/heroines mentioned in the text.This is a book for the history/sociology buff as well as those that have an interest in the American military.

I find it a shame that more have not read or reviewed it.If one more can be inspired to purchase the book, then I, as a reviewer, have done my job.

The Best
There are not many pieces of work detailing the African American's contribution in the military, but Ms Buckley's work "American Patriots" is good. As an ex-military that served during Desert Storm, it did me proud to read how we as a people served, sometimes in the most terrible and racist of conditions, and give their best to a nation that didn't treat them favorably in return. I am sorry that there were some mistakes in there(human error) I didn't know, but am glad someone took the time to give proper credit. Despite of it, I wouldn't dismiss the whole work as revisionist. Someone took the time to tell the story of how we served admirably for this country, andwe can read it. I agree that it should be in the schools for our children to read and every library within this country's paremeters should own a copy.

Historically informative
Extremely informative historical piece of writing laid out in an interesting and chronilogically easy to follow format.Excellent book that was well researched with lot of cross references to historical events, places and figures.Writer Gail Buckley did outstanding job of providing historical contexts to her research with the more "infamous" figures in our country's history. This is the type of history book that I painfully missed in my education of our country and military. A must read for anyone wanting a more expansive and "complete" view of the "forgotten american's" contributions to our military's history/success, fight for personal democracy, justice and equality.

Good, but not always great coverage
Here is a subject that is not as widely appreciated as it should be.Hopefully, this book gets as much popular acclaim as Brokaw's "Greatest Generation.""American Patriots" has many strengths, but its few weaknesses prevent its getting an outstanding review.

Keep in mind that there are two agendas at work in this subject:African American history and military history.It is rare to read studies that are compiled with equal passion and competence on both subjects.I suspect that the author's (and the editor's) competencies were stronger on the African American studies side of the equation, but having said that, let me add that this book's treatment of miltary, political, and social histories are usually well-researched and presented.

The positives:The text is tremendously readable.The reader is transported chronologically through over 225 years of American history, with broad, scene-setting discussions of culture and politics that form the backdrop for individual's stories.Great effort was made to properly cite facts.An unexpected plus is the inclusion of new information (having nothing to do with African Americans) that are not commonplace in "traditional" history-- one example is the apparent conflict over the use of Nationalist Chinese troops in the Korean War.

The negatives are few but troublesome.Not once, but twice, Buckley refers to Gen. Jimmy Doolittle as commander of the Flying Tigers (in fact:Gen. Claire Chennault commanded the Flying Tigers; Doolittle commanded the carrier-launched B-25 raid on Tokyo in April 1942).Also, Fred V. Cherry's Korean War fighter plane is described as a "F89G" (in fact: a Republic F-84G).Occasional errors in equipment designations are forgivable, but the mis-read on Doolittle is something that even casual military historians will catch.When such basic errors exist, it casts doubt on the "new" information that this book presents.

My concern is that unsympathetic reviewers will use the innaccuracies as an excuse to dismiss this volume as "revisionist history."The actual history, which this book takes great strides to portray, does not deserve that.Discipline and excellence, the qualities that which Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. expected from his subordinates, are what this subject's research and presentation deserve. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: African American military cadets/ New York (State)/ West Point/ Biography; United States Military Academy; Military cadets - United States; Flipper, Henry Ossian; African American military cadets - New York (State) - West Point; Military cadets; African American military cadets; Biography ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of essays range from case studies of the impact of Booker T. Washington's career on African-Americans, through comparative discussions of his views and those of other African-American leaders, to a general overview of the state of historiography. ... Read more

Product Description
When nearly 200,000 black men, most of them former slaves, entered the Union army and navy, they transformed the Civil War into a struggle for liberty and changed the course of American history. Freedom's Soldiers tells the story of those men in their own words and the words of other eyewitnesses. These moving letters, affidavits, and memorials--drawn from the records of the National Archives--reveal the variety and complexity of the African-American experience during the era of emancipation. ... Read more

Product Description
The Medal of Honor, one of the world's most highly revered military decorations, has been awarded to 3,457 men and one woman since its inception on December 21, 1861. This honor is bestowed upon those individuals who demonstrate courage in a life-threatening situation, who put their own lives at risk for the sake of others, and who display valor above and beyond the call of duty. This text details the stories of the 88 African Americans who have been awarded the Medal of Honor. Each entry chronicles the acts of bravery and courage that led to the serviceman's receiving this honor. Beginning with a brief history of the Medal of Honor, the book is then divided into eight sections covering every major conflict from the Civil War through the Vietnam War. An appendix of the number of medals awarded by wars and campaigns, a bibliography, and an index are included. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is an account of the 2,445 African American men who were killed or wounded or decorated during World War II in the Navy, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine. Because of the nature of the military's racial policies, most of these men served either in the Steward's Branch or in subordinate positions. As a result, the role of these fighting men has largely been ignored. This book attempts to rectify this oversight, documenting each man lost with groupings primarily by ship and by shore service, as well as separate chapters for those lost at Pearl Harbor and those who died in the explosion at Port Chicago, an incident which accounted for about 20 percent of all deaths among African American seamen during the war. Information of a more personal nature about each man is often included, highlighted by input from surviving black veterans as well as recollections from several families whose sons, fathers, and brothers were lost in the war. Also featured are several African Americans who were decorated posthumously for acts of bravery and heroism during their service, including Navy Cross winners Dorie Miller, William Pinckney and Leonard Roy Harmon. ... Read more

Product Description
On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldier presents carefully documented biographical information on thousands of black servicemen, giving the researcher not only glimpses of individual lives but also documentation of the variety of African-American experiences within and outside the army. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

ONTHETRAILOFTHEBUFFALOSOLIDERBIOGRAFHIESOFA.A./USARMY
THIS BOOK IS JUST WHAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR. IT'S THE START OF MY GREAT QUEST. ... Read more

Product Description
Spanning from the American Revolutionto the war in Afghanistan, this long-overdue, comprehensive history covers the full scope of African Americans' involvement in the armed forces during war and peacetime. Accompanying the informative text are 300 photographs and illustrations, most of them rare, some never before published.

Highlights include accounts of:

- The Rhode Island 1st Regiment, the first all-black regiment in the U.S. Army.

- The New Orleans Battalion of Free Men of Color.

- The Battle for Richmond, which resulted in the largest loss of black life in the Civil War.

- The 1863 New York City Draft Riot.

- The 1919 lynchings of black war vets.

- The Navy's reluctant integration during World War II.

- The dramatic story of the Tuskegee Airmen.

- The war against terrorism in Afghanistan, and much more.

The book also features portraits of famous and lesser-known soldiers, including Crispus Attucks, Salem Poor, John Brown, Sergeant William Carney, Dorie Miller and Colin Powell.This dramatic visual history is a moving tribute to the essential and often unsung contributions of African-American soldiers through every generation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Outstanding
I purchased this book because I was looking for information on the World War II era involvment of Black Americans and this book provided that and much more.I recommend it highly not only for the content but also for the many photographs.it is very difficult to find photos of Black Ameericans in uniform prior to Vietnam. The one thing I wish that there was more of was information about black women during WW II and the period between the war and Vietnam. ... Read more

Product Description
In August 1821, William Brown, a free man of color and a retired ship's steward, opened a pleasure garden on Manhattan's West Side. It catered to black New Yorkers, who were barred admittance to whites-only venues offering drama, music, and refreshment. Over the following two years, Brown expanded his enterprises, founding a series of theaters that featured African Americans playing a range of roles unprecedented on the American stage and that drew increasingly integrated audiences.

Marvin McAllister explores Brown's pioneering career and places his theatrical experiments within the broader context of American social, political, and cultural history. He reveals how each of Brown's ventures--the African Grove, the Minor Theatre, the American Theatre, and the African Company--explicitly cultivated an intercultural, multiracial environment. He also investigates the negative white reactions, verbal and physical, that led to Brown's managerial retirement in 1823.

Brown left his mark on American theater by shaping the careers of his performers and creating new genres of performance. Beyond that legacy, says McAllister, this nearly forgotten theatrical innovator offered a blueprint for a truly inclusive national theater. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Our story told well....these are our people, and this knowledge shapes our future and how we wish to be
This work is an absolutely fascinating treatment of an obscure period of American history, interweaving dimensions of the American story that deserve a stronger voice. It is all here: entrepreneurship, law, emerging national identity, culture, economics, politics, and of course, the tensions of race relations.

This book deserves a wider audience, for far too much of our understanding of race relations in the United States is shaped by the Civil Rights Era, and the intervention of the Federal Government in states rights.

Marvin McAllister's "White People Do Not Know How to Behave at Entertainments Designed for Ladies and Gentlemen of Colour: William Brown's African and American Theater" tells our story from an entirely different perspective that is forgotten and overshadowed. In the 1820s The United States was still emerging as a nation (1776 was less than 50 years earlier) and entrepreneurs of any color had opportunities unprecedented in history. William Brown was a man of vision who rose to success with enterprise, financial acumen, determination, and savvy marketing skills. He saw an opportunity and delivered a service that had great demand.

McAllister does not flinch from the ultimate decline of Brown's business, sadly driven by attracting attention because of its success, and brutally unfair treatment motivated by abhorrent base racism. The tone of the book is neither an apologist for the times, Brown, his patrons and associates, or his detractors. Rather, it tells the story straightforwardly. Of course, the result is sad, but this is our history, and we must face it honestly.

A wonderful book that tells American history in the way it should be taught, as the events of individuals and their efforts rather than a survey of zeitgeist. Highly recommended.

Did you actually read the book, Seth?
(...). If you actually read the book then you would realize that the title was actually on a sign at William Brown's theater, a theater created for blacks in a time when we were not allowed admittance to musical or dramatic performances. It also allowed black performers to develop their art and show that we were not just silly "minstrels" or clowns.
I am very proud to have the William Brown Theater as a part of my African American heritage!

a racist text
This is a racist text.Very little is going on here except typical racist rhetoric against european-americans.Not worth a read and certainly out of place in a time when everyone is being told to be multi-cultural. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful read
At times moving and other times funny, this book gives it all, as well as being historical. It should be a must read in schools. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the history of Detroit's African American community told by the men and women who lived it. ... Read more

Product Description
During the twentieth century, the U.S. Naval Academy evolved from a racist institution to one that ranked equal opportunity among its fundamental tenets. This transformation was not without its social cost, however, and black midshipmen bore the brunt of it.

Blue & Gold and Black is the history of integration of African Americans into the Naval Academy. The book examines how civil rights advocates' demands for equal opportunity shaped the Naval Academy's evolution. Author Robert J. Schneller Jr. analyzes how changes in the Academy's policies and culture affected the lives of black midshipmen, as well as how black midshipmen effected change in the Academy's policies and culture.

Most institutional history is written from the top down, while most social history is written from the bottom up. Based on the documentary record as well as on the memories of hundreds of midshipmen and naval officers, Blue & Gold and Black includes both perspectives. By examining both the institution and the individual, a much more accurate picture emerges of how racial integration occurred at the Naval Academy.

Schneller takes a biographical approach to social history. Through written correspondence, responses to questionnaires, memoirs, and oral histories, African American midshipmen recount their experiences in their own words. Rather than setting adrift their humanity and individuality in oceans of statistics, Schneller uses their first-hand recollections to provide insights into the Academy's culture that cannot be gained from official records. Covering the Jim Crow era, the civil rights movement, and the empowerment of African Americans from the late 1960s through the end of the twentieth century, Blue & Gold and Black traces the transformation of an institution that produces men and women who lead not only the Navy, but also the nation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Useful Start to a Complex and Far from Complete Story of Racial Integration at the U.S. Naval Academy
This is a good book, but not quite as comprehensive as I had hoped. That is why I gave it four instead of five stars. "Blue & Gold and Black" tells a success story in the integration of the races in the United States, how African Americans were incorporated into the United States Naval Academy. The author offers it as a microcosm of society. While the story is one of two steps forward and one step backward, Schneller concludes that "by the end of the twentieth century, the Naval Academy had become an unparalleled opportunity for African American men and women." This is a warm-hearted story, concentrating on memoirs and interviews with African American former midshipmen. Accordingly, it puts a human face on a story of overcoming racism. The overwhelming thesis of this work is this "overcoming of racism" story, but it is one that many would find far from complete.

An Integration Success Story
While no one will claim that in America there has been a complete integration of races, there have been worthy changes for the better.One of the success stories has been the integration of the military, and a specific success has been the integration of the United States Naval Academy.It isn't the biggest or most dramatic story of successful integration, but it is worth knowing about as a microcosm of society.In _Blue & Gold and Black: Racial Integration of the U.S. Naval Academy_ (Texas A & M University Press), naval historian Robert J. Schneller Jr. gives a satisfying story of how once the Navy decided to make integration happen, it put plans into action that really did bring changes to the Academy's atmosphere and functioning.Not all was done as early or as quickly as it could be, but Schneller concludes that "... by the end of the twentieth century, the Naval Academy had become an unparalleled opportunity for African American men and women."His book not only looks at the Academy and the military, but at the history of integration in America, and it concentrates on memoirs and interviews with dozens of African American former midshipmen, giving personal histories to flesh out the social, political, and military history recounted here.There are some chilling stories of racism, but there are also accounts of heroes of both races who helped make the Academy something close to being bias-free.

Schneller's history starts after WWII, in 1946 when there was a modest effort to recruit black officers.President Truman's 1948 order requiring desegregation of the military had little initial effect.There were changes brought in the civil rights revolution, when in 1965 President Johnson wrote a memo to the Secretary of the Navy, noting that there were nine blacks among the 4,100 midshipmen, and wondering how to encourage more "... Negroes to apply."It was then that the Academy started to take seriously the problem of low numbers and discrimination, and credit must be given to the Navy's chain of command for the steps described here that made full integration thinkable.Schneller describes many aspects of the Academy's efforts: "regulations prohibiting discrimination, human resources organizations, extracurricular activities, racial awareness training, even the minority midshipmen study group".All of these "gave black midshipmen the sense that the Academy took racial issues seriously.The more impressive part of Schneller's story, however, is describing the ways that African American midshipmen survived in a discriminatory system.They learned they could generally count on their classmates regardless of race."You had to pitch in and do things together," said one."I helped out white guys and white guys helped me out all through my time there."Athletics, too, helped form bonds; a varsity player remembered, "I don't give a hoot what you played.If you were an athlete, other athletes looked out for you."The black midshipmen drew upon support from the black community within the town of Annapolis, which took great pride in them, and from the black workers within the Academy itself.The black midshipmen themselves formed close relationships with other black midshipmen, often with upperclassmen who could help with tutoring or intervene with a white upperclassman who was putting on undue pressure.

This is an optimistic book about a real success story.In its final pages, Schneller considers the other enormous social change, that of letting females become midshipmen.In many ways, this is the greater change; no one argues that black people should not be midshipmen nowadays, but thirty years after women were first admitted, there are those who seriously maintain that women have no place at the Academy, and prejudice against women seems more ingrained and difficult to eradicate than was that against blacks.This effort is ongoing, but the Academy has shown that organizations can resolve problems of prejudice.Schneller's book profiles the brave black midshipmen (and some brave white ones) who helped make it happen.
... Read more

Product Description
The United States military is often presented as a model of equal-opportunity employment. In this work, the author examines and challenges this assertion with respect to the Navy. Dunklin studies Navy claims of meritocracy and training processes, profiles the careers of eight senior enlisted African American servicemen, and examines barriers to African American inclusion. First-hand accounts and interviews provide insight into the coping mechanisms and struggles of African Americans in the Navy. The author concludes by offering suggestions to improve the Navy equal opportunity environment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Midwest Book Review's take
" Born At The Battlefield Of Gettysburg: An African-American Family Saga is the true story of an African-American family that suffered from the unspeakable evil of slavery. The protagonist's mother was the daughter of free blacks in Philadelphia; kidnapped from her parents by slave catchers, she was enslaved on a Virginia tobacco plantation for 37 years before making a daring escape to Gettysburg on the night before the historic Civil War battle ensued. She was nine months pregnant, and determined that her child would not be born a slave. Born At The Battlefield Of Gettysburg is an impressively in-depth, heavily researched and brutally accurate portrayal of the methods and means by which the monstrous evil of slavery was justified and perpetuated, how religion was used both as a club to keep slaves in line and as a means of self-expression for the slaves, the operation of the Underground Railroad, and much more. Riveting and highly recommended, yet also shocking in its literal, realistic portrayal of man's historical inhumanity to man."-- Midwest Book Review

Born at the Battlefield of Gettysburg
The lives of Victor Chambers-who was born on the battlefield at Gettysburg to a runaway slave and later became an artist in Providence-and his mother are chronicled in this book based on letters that Victor Chambers wrote to Rinaldi's great-grandfather, a Civil War veteran, in 1931. The story Rinaldi relates is emblematic of the fate of countless others whose lives were shaped by the scourge of slavery. Chambers' mother, a daughter of free blacks in Philadelphia, was kidnapped from her parents by slave catchers, who most likely included the notorious Lucretia (Patty) Cannon. After the kidnapping, Chambers' mother was enslaved on a Virginia tobacco plantation for 37 years before she made her escape to Gettysburg on the night before the historic Civil War battle erupted. She was nine months pregnant with Chambers-and determined that her child would not be born a slave. Gettysburg was a key stop on the Underground Railroad. This riveting chronicle provides valuable insights into the tactics and routes used by slave catchers in abducting free blacks, especially children, the atmosphere in slave markets; the role of religion as a means of control by owners, as well as a means of self-expression by slaves; the treatment of slave children; physical and psychological measures used by masters and overseers to control slaves; sexual abuse by masters; and the Underground Railroad as a clandestine operation.

Heavily researched and brutally accurate
Born At The Battlefield Of Gettysburg: An African-American Family Saga is the true story of an African-American family that suffered from the unspeakable evil of slavery. The protagonist's mother was the daughter of free blacks in Philadelphia; kidnapped from her parents by slave catchers, she was enslaved on a Virginia tobacco plantation for 37 years before making a daring escape to Gettysburg on the night before the historic Civil War battle ensued. She was nine months pregnant, and determined that her child would not be born a slave. Born At The Battlefield Of Gettysburg is an impressively in-depth, heavily researched and brutally accurate portrayal of the methods and means by which the monstrous evil of slavery was justified and perpetuated, how religion was used both as a club to keep slaves in line and as a means of self-expression for the slaves, the operation of the Underground Railroad, and much more. Riveting and highly recommended, yet also shocking in its literal, realistic portrayal of man's historical inhumanity to man.

Born on the Battlefield of Gettysburg
The lives of Victor Chambers-who was born on the battlefield at Gettysburg to a runaway slave and later became an artist in Providence-and his mother are chronicled in this book based on letters that Victor Chambers wrote to Rinaldi's great-grandfather, a Civil War veteran, in 1931. The story Rinaldi relates is emblematic of the fate of countless others whose lives were shaped by the scourge of slavery. Chambers' mother, a daughter of free blacks in Philadelphia, was kidnapped from her parents by slave catchers, who most likely included the notorious Lucretia (Patty) Cannon. After the kidnapping, Chambers' mother was enslaved on a Virginia tobacco plantation for 37 years before she made her escape to Gettysburg on the night before the historic Civil War battle erupted. She was nine months pregnant with Chambers-and determined that her child would not be born a slave. Gettysburg was a key stop on the Underground Railroad. This riveting chronicle provides valuable insights into the tactics and routes used by slave catchers in abducting free blacks, especially children, the atmosphere in slave markets; the role of religion as a means of control by owners, as well as a means of self-expression by slaves; the treatment of slave children; physical and psychological measures used by masters and overseers to control slaves; sexual abuse by masters; and the Underground Railroad as a clandestine operation. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A compilation of twenty-four lengthy, critical essays
Mickey R. Dansby, James B. Stewart, and Schuyler C. Webb effectively collaborate to edit Managing Diversity In The Military: Research Perspectives From The Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, a compilation of twenty-four lengthy, critical essays of a subject that inevitably arouses heated debate: issues of diversity in the United States military, and how to best resolve often widely conflicting opinions. Managing Diversity In The Military is divided into five main sections, which address issues from diversifying military leadership to gender integration/sexual harassment to race and military discipline. A scholarly, academic examination of a highly complicated subject fraught with human complexities, Managing Diversity In The Military is essential reading for anyone directly affected by or interested in this key managerial issue affecting the readiness and performance capabilities of the United States armed forces today. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Mostly myth
I'm white and served in the marines from 1969 to 1972.This book does not square with my experience.It was an era of radicalism.The black men I served with generally had a bad attitude and felt they were fighting a white man's war.I met one young man who was one of the few E-1's I'd ever seen outside of bootcamp.He refused to salute officers or say "yes sir".Of course he paid a high price.Anyone who followed the rules and applied themselves did well.It wasn't easy, but it was fair no matter what your color. ... Read more