Racism
We are talking here primarily of the white-black kind of racism, although the e.g. racism against Chinese has been no less appalling. Usually, the frequent racism of blacks against whites is little mentioned or swept under the carpet in public discourse.
Racism in the U.S. has been and still is an ideology based less on facts than on compassions and subjective choices. Racism in the U.S. is exploited for political purposes.
Racism in the U.S. never was simply a black and white issue, but it was turned into a poison that permeates society and still affects us today.
A Brief Story Of A Buffalo Soldier
The remarkable story is about the former slave and first black West Point graduate (1877) Henry Ossian Flipper. He was the fourth black cadet at West Point. This story about this man relies primarily on the Wikipedia article. Here is the official U.S. Army story.
A white U.S. Representative James Crawford Freeman appointed Henry Ossian Flipper to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Flipper attended the nation's oldest graduate institution Atlanta University serving a predominantly black student body. This university was founded by the American Missionary Association.
“He became the first non-white officer to lead Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry. Flipper served with competency and distinction during the Apache Wars and the Victorio Campaign.”
Engineering Achievements
“Flipper's salient achievements in the Indian Territory were in engineering projects that proved beneficial to civilian society as well as the military. Malaria plagued the troops at the fort , and Flipper suffered a severe attack. A white engineering officer, trained at Germany's Heidlberg University, had tried but failed to devise a drainage system to eliminate pools of stagnant water. Lieutenant Flipper was assigned the project. He designed and constructed a system that permanently eliminated malaria at the fort. It still controls floods and erosion in the area. "Flipper's Ditch" won recognition as a part of the Fort Sill National Register Historic District in 1966 (NR 66000629) and Fort Sill National Historic Landmark in 1977.
On two other projects Flipper succeeded where white officers had previously failed. He surveyed the route and supervised construction of a road from Fort Sill to Gainesville, Texas, that met standards for commercial civilian as well as military use. His third accomplishment was the innovative building of an intricate telegraph line from Fort Supply, Indian Territory, to Fort Elliott, Texas.” (source)
White Women
We read in Wikipedia (emphasis added):
“In August 1878, Captain Nicholas M. Nolan [commanding officer of Flipper at the time] married his second wife, Anne Eleanor Dwyer in San Antonio, Texas. … Anne's sister, a Miss Mollie Dwyer, arrived shortly after ... in early 1879.Mollie Dwyer and Flipper became friends and often went riding together. Nolan was the de facto commander of Fort Elliott and he made Flipper his adjutant. Flipper received high marks from his commander. However, there were rumors and letters hinting at improprieties against Flipper, an African-American and Mollie Dwyer, a Caucasian. It would be the beginning of a smear campaign. During the next many months he [Flipper] sent and received letters from Mollie.”
‘’Nolan was censured by several white officers for allowing Flipper into his quarters for dinner, where his daughter Kate was present. Nolan defended his action by stating that Flipper was an "officer and a gentleman" just like any other officer present” (source)
Court Martialed
Yes, Flipper was court martialed on apparently fabricated or trumped up charges and was harshly sentenced. However, it was reported that other soldiers and the community collected $2,000 to help Flipper.
The details are not provided in the above two sources, but the sentence was even brought up to the President of the USA Chester A. Arthur who “declined to overturn the sentence” (Source).
Post Military Life
His post military career is as amazing as his military career.
“After his dismissal, Flipper remained in Texas, working as a civil engineer. In 1898, he volunteered to serve in the Spanish-American War, but requests to restore his commission were ignored by Congress. He spent time in Mexico, and on returning to the United States, he served as an advisor to Senator Albert Fall on the revolutionary politics in that country. When Fall became Secretary of the Interior in 1921, he brought Flipper with him to Washington, D.C. to serve as his assistant.
In 1923 Flipper went to work in Venezuela as an engineer in the petroleum industry. ”
“Throughout his life, Flipper was a prolific author, writing about scientific topics, the history of the Southwest, and his own experiences. In The Colored Cadet at West Point (1878) he describes his experiences at the military academy. In the posthumous Negro Frontiersman: The Western Memoirs of Henry O. Flipper (1963), he describes his life in Texas and Arizona after his discharge from the army.”
Import
As you would expect in a society of free people, racism and slavery were slowly, but surely overcome. Whites were helping blacks. Great black people like Flipper proved that skin color means nothing.
I would also argue that the much celebrated “landmark” acts of big government like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Affirmative Action were but overreactions and largely superfluous.
Unfortunately, because of big government we will never know the course of history would have taken without it, but I bet the outcomes would have been better.
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