THE GOLDEN THIRTEEN

The moving story of the Navy’s first black commissioned officers.

Politico journalist Goldberg reminds readers that large numbers of blacks fought in the Revolutionary and Civil wars, but the triumph of Jim Crow after 1900 led to them being phased out. By 1932, blacks made up only 441 of 81,000 Navy men, all working menial jobs. “By the summer of 1940,” writes the author, “discrimination in the Army and Navy ‘cut deeper into Negro feelings than employment discrimination,’ and had replaced lynching as the chief political priority of the black community.” Their newspapers and activists pointed out the hypocrisy of fighting for freedom in a nation where they were denied it. In 1942, responding to political pressure, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered reluctant Navy officials to train blacks for better jobs. Goldberg tells his inspiring story through the lives of 16 candidates who joined that year and trained in entirely segregated facilities. They worked at routine jobs within the U.S. until December 1943, when they were flabbergasted to learn that they were chosen for officer training. Goldberg delivers a gripping account of the brutal two-month accelerated course taught by mostly white officers, who often made it clear they hoped the men would fail. “The men lived like lab mice caged for experimentation,” writes the author. Knowing what was at stake, they studied obsessively, and everyone passed with “a collective 3.89 out of 4.0, the highest average of any class in Navy history.” The white pass rate was 75%, so, without explanation, the Navy commissioned only 13 of the men. Forbidden from commanding whites, most supervised black work details, and discrimination continued. Many white sailors refused to salute, and officers’ clubs sometimes emptied when black officers entered. Yet, Goldberg emphasizes, the pressure to end segregation persisted. By the time of Harry Truman’s 1948 order integrating the armed forces, blacks and whites were working together on many ships.

Revealing accounts of highly admirable men working diligently within an unedifying episode in American history.