BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AJR 33
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AJR
33 (Bonilla and Thurmond)
As Introduced March 7, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Veterans |9-0 |Irwin, Chávez, | |
|Affairs | |Achadjian, Alejo, | |
| | |Brown, Daly, Frazier, | |
| | |Mathis, Salas | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Urges the United States to take certain actions with
regard to a disaster at the Chicago Naval Magazine in Port
Chicago, California. Specifically, this resolution would have
the Legislature resolve:
1)To urge recognition that the trial and conviction of the 50
African American sailors of the United States Navy for mutiny
in connection with their service at the Port Chicago Naval
Magazine in Concord, California, during World War II were
wrongfully pursued because of racial prejudice
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2)To urge the Congress to publicly exonerate those 50 African
American sailors of the United States Navy in order to further
aid in healing the racial divide that continues to exist in
the United States.
3)To urge Congress to take action to retroactively convert the
general discharge granted to each of the 50 African American
sailors to an honorable discharge; and
4)To transmit the resolution as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill is not keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS: According to the Author:
In 1944 during World War II, the Port Chicago Naval Magazine
transported bombs, shells, and mines among other
ammunitions. Loading ammunition and explosives was
performed exclusively by African American sailors under the
supervision of white officers. Despite the warnings from
the longshoremen's union, the United States Navy failed to
adequately provide the African American sailors with the
proper tools necessary to operate under safe working
conditions. An explosion [on July 14, 1944] at the port
killed over 300 men and wounded even more, most of whom were
African American. Many of the survivors refused to resume
loading ammunitions, citing unsafe working conditions, and
ultimately 50 African American men were convicted of muting
for failing to obey orders.
The Port Chicago disaster is a tragedy that accounted for more
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than 15% of all African American naval casualties during World
War II. After refusing to work without proper training under
the same unsafe conditions that resulted in the explosion, 50
African Americans were tried and convicted of mutiny for failing
to resume loading. As a result of the appeals process at the
end of the war, their sentences were reduced and almost all were
released by early 1946.
The United States Navy concluded that there can be "no doubt
that racial prejudice was responsible for the posting of
Afro-American enlisted personnel to the loading divisions at
Port Chicago" and this same bias was documented in the trial for
the African American sailors. It has been recorded that white
officers encouraged African American sailors to compete while
loading ammunition and explosives while they placed bets among
themselves. Furthermore, many of the African American survivors
expecting to be granted survivors' leave before being reassigned
to regular duty were given none, while white officers were
permitted to go home for 30-day leaves.
The definition of mutiny itself has been debated as it relates
to this trial. Mutiny, as legally defined, assumes the intent
to seize command while the sailors on trial pursued a passive
act of resistance in their refusal to work due to extremely
dangerous conditions. Thurgood Marshall stated he saw no reason
why the men should be tried for mutiny rather than on lesser
charges of individual subordination and insisted they were being
tried for mutiny "solely because of their race and color."
As California and the United States have sought to increase
protections as they relate to race and workers' conditions, it
is important that the state and federal government recognize the
errors of the past and attempt to make amends. The officers
needlessly and deliberately put African American workers in
harm's way and the court's insistence that they be convicted of
mutiny for refusing to work under the circumstances is unjust.
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Despite being members of the military, these sailors were
discriminated against based on their race. Though action to
alter their convictions and characterization of discharges is
within the exclusive purview of the Congress and the federal
government, this resolution is a statement by California both to
the public and to the federal government about the injustice and
loss of life that occurred as a result of the Port Chicago
disaster.
Analysis Prepared by:
Ryan VanZuylen and John Spangler / V.A. / (916) 319-3550 FN:
0002799