May 15, 2012

  • Racism

    When I reported on the USS Kitty Hawk in the 1979. I heard stories of racism problems that happened several year previous. I recently found a book that detailed the entire story.  I read the book. I was shocked at what happened on board aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk several years before I got there.  One night in October 1973 a group of African Americans rampaged the ship.  They went throughout the ship destroying and hurting as many people as they could.  It went on for several hours.   The ship’s leadership did not attempt to stop it for fear of making it worse.  There was not a rise up of the 1000′s of majority sailers against this minority group.  The leadership used words to try and talk the leaders down -thus the reason it went on for so long.  Years later one of the leaders of the mob riot said that it wasn’t about race that fueled his rage. He admitted he was suffering grief from his childhood.  Even though there were trials after the incident, no one was convicted.  There was no justice. 

     

     

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