Isaac Woodard |
I believe in peaceful dialog
instead of fighting and yelling. I want to see progress towards a
peaceful settlement. I can’t always have what I want but this is what I
prefer. People sacrifice their lives for a cause because it something
they believe in. They expect certain consequences and in the process will
always be remembered. Some innocent people have given up their lives due
to other people bizarre behavior. They happen to be in the wrong place at
the wrong time. All of us can vouch for this. We might not have
been through some extreme circumstances but we have witnessed those
unforgettable occasions. Then, there are some innocent people who simply
mind their own business and become victims of another person’s hostility.
I don’t want those innocent people to be forgotten. Isaac Woodard lost
his eyesight because of racial hatred. I can't seem to find more
information on Sheriff Shull. Despite the differences that our skin
complexions are different, the major barriers between the races are what we
believe and think.
In February, 1946, a black
soldier named Isaac Woodard, was on his way home to South Carolina . He had just been
discharged out of the Army. At a stop along the way, Woodard had a verbal
altercation with the driver over permission to use the restroom. After
using the restroom, he returned to his seat without incident. At Batesburg, the
next stop, the diver contacted Sheriff Linwood Shull, who forcibly removed
Woodard from the bus. After demanding to see his discharge papers, a group
of officers took Woodard, still in uniform, to a nearby alleyway and beat him
with nightsticks. He was then taken to jail and arrested for disorderly
conduct. Overnight, more beatings and jabs in the face with a nightstick
resulted in both of Woodard’s eyes being ruptured, and the onset of partial
amnesia. The next day, Woodard was brought before a local judge, found
guilty and fined fifty dollars. Not knowing where he was and still suffering
from amnesia, Woodard ended up in a nearby hospital receiving substandard
care. It took his family ten days to find him. The story eventually
reached the ears of President Truman, who angrily demanded that the Attorney
General take action. The resulting trial of Sheriff Shull, who admitted
he had blinded Woodard, was a shameful failure, resulting in the courtroom
breaking into applause when Shull was acquitted after 30 minutes of
deliberation. The Blinding of Isaac Woodard – Woody Guthrie. Isaac Woodard was born
March 18, 1919, in Fairfield County ,
South Carolina . He died
September 23, 1992, in the Bronx, New
York .
Prior to this event, another
horrible incident took place. On July 16, 1943,
an African American soldier was on his way home to LaGrange , Georgia to
visit his wife and infant. He was traveling by bus from Charleston , South Carolina which made a stop in Augusta , Georgia . He got off to stretch his
legs and as soon as he took his seat again the driver told him to get off
without giving him an explanation. The soldier proceeded to the driver what the
problem was and the driver replied by telling him “for blowing your top you
will be leaving on the next bus at one-fifteen in the morning.” At that point
two military policemen walked up and he asked one why he could not ride on that
particular bus. One responded in a nice manner and the other insultingly. The
officer who responded rudely replied to his comrade, “you let a nigger talk to
you like that,” and told the soldier if he didn’t like the way things were then, he would send him back to Charleston and
he ought to arrest him.
The postwar era was characterized
by a total lack of response to the needs of Black Americans from the
legislative branch of government. President Truman, however, was angry over the
treatment of black Americans, particularly war veterans, and although his
commitment to civil rights was tempered somewhat by political necessity,
several milestones were achieved during his administration. On December
5, 1946, Truman established by executive order the President’s Committee on
Civil Rights. The committee was instructed to investigate the status of civil
rights in the United
States and propose measures to
strengthen and protect the civil rights of American citizens. Truman became the
first president to address the NAACP, at the Lincoln Memorial on July 29, 1947.
On July 26, 1948, President Truman issued ExecutiveOrder 9981, banning segregation of the armed forces. Senior military
officials protested but the Korean War prompted the integration of combat
units, without the predicted loss of combat effectiveness.
Here are some links to the
newspapers at the time. Each newspaper has its own spin.
http://faculty.uscupstate.edu/amyers/lighthouse.html Local
Black Newspaper
http://faculty.uscupstate.edu/amyers/recordnov.html Local
White Newspaper
If you are interested in reading
more about Black Americans in the Military, read Strength for the Fight: A
History of Black Americans in the Military by Bernard C. Nalty. Brothers
in Arms: The Epic Story Of The 761st Tank Battalion, WWII’s Forgotten Heroes by
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony Walton.
Sources: History
Engine – Tools for Collaborative Education and Research
Civil Rights in The Postwar Era: 1946-1953