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Post by AztecWilliam on Aug 2, 2009 15:52:17 GMT -8
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Post by Bob Forsythe on Aug 2, 2009 16:54:20 GMT -8
My father, Lucien Alexis Jr. (Harvard 1942) helped spark the great race awakening at Harvard when he and fellow members of the Harvard lacrosse team arrived for a match at the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1941. The academy insisted that my father, the only black team member, be removed, declaring that no midshipman would take the field with a colored man.
Seems to me the Naval Academy is far more to blame than Harvard.
=Bob
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Post by sportnlyf on Aug 3, 2009 23:20:49 GMT -8
I would have to say this story leaves plenty of shame for both institutions.
Although a native San Diegan (Golden Hill and SDHS) I decided to attend Humboldt State for a year before returning home to finish up at SDSU.
A few years before my arrival in Arcata, the Lumberjacks had an outstanding football team that was invited to Florida to play in what I believe was called the Tangerine Bowl. They had one black player, an outstanding running back who went on to play for the AFL KC Chiefs as I recall.
As the story was told to me, the Humboldt State team was greeted with the normal bowl fanfare and led to their hotel, only to find out that blacks were not allowed in the same hotel that had been reserved for the team, and that separate lodging had been arranged for their running back .
Learning this and failing to convince the bowl hosts otherwise, the Humboldt State Head Coach called for the buses to come back and pick up his team for a return to the airport, saying something along the lines of "we're a team and we play and stay together as a team, or we don't play."
With prospect of not having the bowl game they had organized, bowl officials huddled with local police, politicians and the hotel's ownership - and Jim Crow went out the window for that week at least.
So I guess I can be more proud of Humboldt State and its actions than some may be of Harvard or the Naval Academy for theirs.
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Post by aztecwin on Aug 4, 2009 4:39:55 GMT -8
Sad to say that the Navy had problems with race far longer than it should have.
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Post by Bob Forsythe on Aug 4, 2009 15:25:35 GMT -8
Sad to say that the Navy had problems with race far longer than it should have. Quite true, although I understand the sentiment from those who were brought up to not know better. We are seeing the same thing repeating today with the argument about gays in the military. Jeez, if the Israelis accept openly gay troops, I don't see any reason why we should not. =Bob |
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Post by AztecWilliam on May 11, 2010 9:31:18 GMT -8
Sad to say that the Navy had problems with race far longer than it should have. Quite true, although I understand the sentiment from those who were brought up to not know better. We are seeing the same thing repeating today with the argument about gays in the military. Jeez, if the Israelis accept openly gay troops, I don't see any reason why we should not. =Bob This thread goes back a long way, but having just reread it I feel moved to lodge a disagreement with Bob on this point. Many in favor of gays in the military have put forth the same argument that Bob posted here. However, simple logic tells us that homosexuality is of a quite different nature than merely having different skin color. I am not really taking a stand on whether gays should serve. I am merely saying that skin color really is no big deal. After all, many Caucasians have pretty dark skin compared with, shall we say, Norwegians. The issue of sexual orientation is of a much more basic nature, one that could cause problems. That would also apply to allowing women to serve in combat roles. Everything that can be said in favor of allowing homosexual men to serve in combat roles can be said of allowing women to serve in those roles. And we know for a fact that in the case of women in the military there are indeed problems, such as significant numbers of women who must be sent home because they have gotten pregnant while serving aboard navy ships. Now the navy (under PC pressure from the administration?) is thinking of allowing women to serve on subs. Surely accommodating women on navy ships in any capacity poses difficulties not encountered with all-male crews. Do the benefits of allowing women to serve outweigh the negatives? I will leave it to posters who have served in the military, especially in combat units in the field, to offer their comments on this question. AzWm |
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