U.S. Army sets aside convictions of 110 Black soldiers arrested over 1917 Houston riots

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Tue Nov 14, 2023, 06:41 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: CBS News

Updated on: November 13, 2023 / 8:04 PM EST


The U.S. Army has set aside the convictions of 110 Black soldiers who were arrested following the 1917 Houston Riots.

The armed forces branch approved a recommendation, made by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records, that the soldiers' courts-martial convictions be set aside, the Army's Public Affairs office announced in a news release Monday. The soldiers were part of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment.

The military service records of the soldiers, also known as "Buffalo Soldiers," will be corrected and characterized as honorable, the Army said.

"After a thorough review, the Board has found that these Soldiers were wrongly treated because of their race and were not given fair trials," Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said in a statement. "By setting aside their convictions and granting honorable discharges, the Army is acknowledging past mistakes and setting the record straight."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-army-110-black-buffalo-soldiers-arrested-1917-houston-riots/

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Link to Army news release - https://www.army.mil/article/271614/army_sets_aside_convictions_of_110_black_soldiers_convicted_in_1917_houston_riots

[JustAnotherGen]

1. About damn time

They were righteous patriots.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Heard this on the radio late last night

but only caught it partway through the report so missed some of the story context at the time.

This is WAY overdue. There was a mass execution of a number of them.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. It was part of the

Black American history I learned at home.

They always called it a riot - not a mass act of terror against black Americans.

I hope we are learning our lesson - but I fear we are not.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Yup.. here too

My grandfather was a WWI vet. The one thing that I appreciated about the sequel to the 1977 "Roots" miniseries - "Roots: The Next Generation" that came out in 1979, is that they actually showed that WWI period and what was typical that happened to the black soldiers (Simon Haley was the WWI vet in that miniseries).

I know my mother always talked about one of her uncles who was a vet who was "gassed" during WWI and had "never 'been right'" since.

[elleng]

14. Saw part of a story on PBS last night.

[republianmushroom]

11. Agree

[jaxexpat]

5. Who says the American justice system is a farce?

Oh, it's veeeeerrrry slooooooow, but to say that justice delayed is justice denied is just hyperbole. Right? I mean, Trump's trial is scheduled for 2059 providing all appeals are complete by then. See? Told ya. The procedure to find the truth will set you free, etc. *E pluribus carpe per diem et tu al dente and stuff. Hell yeah, love it or leave it, thicke and dripping with

*author does not claim any insight as to why Latin is relevant

[usaf-vet]

6. How about back pay. With interest to the surviving family members. Ya right I didn't think so.

[sybylla]

12. That was my first thought.

It wasn't just their record that was hurt. This action cost them their futures and the advancement as well as financial support of their families.

Fixing the record is the easy step. Now pay the families for the benefits that these men should have received as full-fledged veterans. Or it's just meaningless bullshit.

[Escurumbele]

7. If I recall correctly, this was during Teddy Roosevelt years in office, he knew that the black soldiers

were not being treated fairly, and he suspected the deaths had not been done by any of the black rioters. He tried to have a fair trial and investigation but the republican majority did not allow him to do so.

I will have to re-read the chapter of the three volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt and get my facts right.

By the way, I recommend this set of three books on Roosevelt's biography, is very well written:

https://www.amazon.com/Edmund-Morriss-Theodore-Roosevelt-Trilogy/dp/0812958632/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2TPG2NN6R2NTK&keywords=theodore+roosevelt&qid=1699971083&sprefix=theodore+roosevelt%2Caps%2C206&sr=8-7

In my view, Roosevelt was the only good republican president, a true progressive.

[sarisataka]

8. You are off by a decade

T Roosevelt was President from 1901-1909. Woodrow Wilson was President in 1917.

The Republicans of that era were completely different from the modern version of the party. (TBF, the same can be said about Democrats)

[pansypoo53219]

9. i watched a movie on STARZ about this. its about time.

[Bayard]

10. I'm curious why these men are still being called, "Buffalo Soldiers"

That was a term western Indigenous tribes used to describe them because of their darker skin.

[sarisataka]

13. All of the units formed after the Civil War

As all black regiments were referred to as Buffalo Soldiers. They were the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments and the 24th, 25th and 38th Infantry Regiments. Today the 9th and 10th still retain Buffalo Soldiers as their official nickname, though obviously are intergrated.

Interesting trivia- Gen. "Black Jack" Pershing served as a 1LT in the 10th Cav. He was given a "similar" nick name by West Point cadets while an instructor because he spoke with great respect of the black soldiers he had led. When he led the US troops into WW1 the press "softened" his nick name which stuck with him.