In an historic week during which an important social barrier came tumbling down and crashed to the ground upon which so many indelible stains of discrimination, hate, and bigotry had accumulated over the centuries, it is important to remember the deeds of a brave group of men who embarked on another remarkable journey this day in 1863 from Boston, Massachusetts.
On May 28, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment -- the first organized African-American regiment composed of free men and ex-slaves -- left Boston to fight for the Union Army against the Confederates in the American Civil War.
The Storming of Ft Wagner, South Carolina, July 18, 1863
In doing so, it would play a critical (though long overlooked) role in the painful and arduous journey towards absolving the country of its original sin, slavery.
Colonel Robert G. Shaw, Sargent William H. Carney, and Private Charles A. Smith
of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment (photos from the Massachusetts
Historical Society)
The heroic deeds of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment have been well-documented in history and, indeed, were dramatized in the Academy Award-winning 1989 movie, Glory. You can read more about their exploits here, here, and here.
Shaw was a young Bostonian with impeccable family connections, strongly abolitionist parents, and battle experience. Born 10 October 1837, he was the only son of Francis Gould and Sarah Sturgis Shaw. Socially conscious and deeply devoted to intellectual and spiritual pursuits, the Shaws counted among their friends and associates such thinkers, writers, and reformers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Lloyd Garrison, and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Lieutenant Colonel Edward N. Hallowell, Commander,
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Under the command of Colonel Shaw (and, later, his replacement, Lieutenant Colonel Edward N. Hallowell), the regiment's exploits helped to calm racial tensions
Battle of Olustee, Florida, February 20, 1864
Completing their training at the end of May, the 54th saw its first action in South Carolina, where they were assigned the vanguard offence of Fort Wagner. Nearly half of the regiment was killed or wounded in this assault, including it's commander; during the action, William H. Carey, standard bearer, acted with such bravery he was the first black man awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. They proved themselves many times afterward in combat in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
The 54th was instrumental in ramping up Northern abolitionist sentiment, encouraging black recruitment and the formation of additional black regiments, and refused to accept pay until they were paid exactly the same as the white soldiers.
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In this country's long struggle to achieve recognition for the role minorities played in its development, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment stands out: it was one of the first examples of a minority group of men actually empowered to determine its own destiny and compete with their white counterparts. Why is this important? The regiment's formation and military actions came under a Republican president, Abraham Lincoln. This occurred during a period which saw the Democratic Party stuck in the dark ages when slavery, segregation, and discrimination were considered normal practices.
Towards the Civil War's end, there were plenty of signs of social, economic, and political progress for over a decade until the Reconstruction Era ended in 1877. Once Jim Crow laws were firmly in place, in terms of achieving equality of opportunity for minorities, not much was to change for the next 90 years or so.
Upper (left to right): Chaplain Samuel Harrison; Lt. Frank M. Welch. Lower (left to right): Lt. Stephen A. Swails; Lt. Peter Vogelsang (photos from the Florida Photographic Collection)
By the late 1960's -- after African-American and other minorities had gained voting and other civil rights a few years earlier -- race relations took a turn for the worst. Assassinations, social unrest, and race riots led to white flight from the cities to the suburbs in most major cities. A new and cynical form of politics was born. Growing anger and resentment over the issue of integration, affirmative action, and busing presented the Republicans with a golden opportunity and ushered in an era of (largely) Republican political dominance at the national level. For 40 years, (mostly) manufactured social issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and guns as well as racial resentment continued to play a pivotal role in keeping the Republican Party competitive in national politics.
In November 2008, much of this changed. The election of Barack Obama as the country's 44th and first African-American President dealt a serious blow to the viability and future of the G.O.P. For a country that values progress, once a barrier had been broken, would old issues have the same resonance? Seen in that context, one can understand (if not agree with) the GOP's resistance to the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor even though plenty of evidence affirms her qualifications to be the first Hispanic to be named as a justice to the Supreme Court of the United States. Her elevation to prominence by a Democratic president would be another setback in shrinking the Republican Party and reducing its diminishing appeal to Hispanic groups.
What does the GOP do now? Other than reinventing itself and finding issues that concern the country's (and not its own) welfare would be a welcome start. Appealing to more, not less, constituency groups would also help in this redefinition. With no change forthcoming, the country's gain represents a severe and substantial setback to the Republican Party. Moreover, soon after Barack Obama was inaugurated, an article in the Washington Post asked the question: was there a liberal revival of Americanism? It surely didn't imply that all Democrats were about to engage in phony patriotism and mindless jingoism that Republicans excelled at for decades prior to the 2008 Election. With that option no longer available, the message is clear: reform or die.
President Barack Obama's message in selecting Judge Sotomayor is simply this: in a society based largely on the idea of meritocracy, competence and achievement is not the exclusive domain of those whose skin color happens to be white.
Almost a century and a half ago, the actions of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment proved just that point. And, emphatically so.