Black Sailor, White Navy: Racial Unrest in the Fleet During the Vietnam Era (review)

The early 1970s were stressful for the United States Navy. The Vietnam conflict, the end of the draft, and social unrest in the United States all took their toll. President Nixon’s use of massive force in response to North Vietnam’s 1972 offensive stretched resources to the limit, as ships had their deployments extended, periods in home port reduced, and sailors working up to twenty hours a day. As if this were not enough, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., had implemented controversial personnel reforms in the Navy. Perhaps the most urgent was an effort to provide greater opportunity for African- Americans. Racial disturbances broke out on numerous ships, drawing attention from the media, Congress, and the White House, which gave ammunition to Zumwalt’s critics.

John Darrell Sherwood, a historian at the Naval Historical Center, ably chronicles this turbulent period. Utilizing official records as well as Admiral Zumwalt’s personal papers and autobiography, he provides a detailed background of conditions in the service as a whole as well as a thorough analysis of events. He points out that in 1971, the Navy had the lowest percentage of African-Americans in the U.S. armed forces (5.3% enlisted, 0.7 percent officers – the Army had the highest, with 13.7% enlisted and 3.5% officers). Zumwalt’s effort to increase the number of African-Americans in the Navy was motivated by more than egalitarian reasons; the end of the draft placed greater strain on recruiting, making a campaign to improve the service’s attraction to African-Americans an imperative. Unfortunately, lower test scores confined many of those recruited to menial jobs, and the number of African-Americans in leadership positions could not be increased immediately.

Several incidents are described, some ashore and others afloat. Mess decks and berthing areas were often the scenes of confrontation. Substance abuse, personal grudges, and the disaffection of young men with Navy life combined with racial tension to create an explosive mixture in the overextended fleet. In some cases, gangs wandered ships preying upon other sailors until roving patrols suppressed their activities. On other occasions, alleged ringleaders were removed from ships. This exacerbated the problem in the case of USS Constellation, where 144 sailors put ashore in San Diego refused to board the vessel, gaining national attention. Blaming the problems on Zumwalt’s policies, a Congressional subcommittee investigated the situation. As the author points out, support from the media and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird enabled the CNO to weather the storm and continue his efforts to promote equal opportunity.

Black Sailor, White Navy provides a scholarly, readable, and thought provoking account of a troubled period in American history. Readers interested in the Navy, the Vietnam conflict, and race relations will find this authoritative study invaluable.