Posted on Feb 12, 2018
Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Carl Maxie Brashear, the U.S. Navy’s First African American Master...
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Military History
Naval/Maritime History
Diving
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This is so messed up the way this article was written. You would think this man was born with Down Syndrome the way it talks about his race being an obstacle his race wasn't the obstacle our government and his fellow soldiers were the obstacles. and to continue to constantly point out that this superb specimen of a soldier happened to be black should be insulting to all persons of similar descent. to fight for equality is to erase labels and boundaries. he should be recognized as a hero and Elite of the US services for his accomplishments as a diver and soldier. He should not be labeled as the first person of a group being persecuted to get permission to do a job already being done by others. It's like giving a victory party for a participation medal. In my opinion its like they are saying that a black man shouldn't have been able to do what he did but he beat the odds, which is not the case. We need to stop segregating black Americans with things like black history month and start recognizing that their history is American history and give them their rightful place in the big book instead of issuing a side note almanac. "If its separate it's not equal!"
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PO2 Rev. Frederick C. Mullis, AFI, CFM
Eric a few things, First, SAILOR, Master Chief Brashear was a sailor not a soldier. you may think it is a little thing but to Navy personnel it is a MAJOR thing. Next it was the AfroAmericans who wanted a Black History Month the Congressional Black Caucus lobbied for it and had it passed then raised hell because it was February a short month and not a month with 31 days. At the time when Master Chief Brasher was able to achieve what he did, being Black was an obstacle. It is not a proud time in American History but it is a fact. Thankfully that obstacle is no longer in place. THE FACT THAT HE WAS THE FIRST BLACK MASTER DIVER WAS AN ACHIEVEMENT! Do not denigrate that fact, he did beat the odds. It is what it is. Do not rewrite history.
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Eric Lund
a soldier is a person that fights for the chief warlord or state and yes there are subdivisions thereof such as mercenary, janissary, conscript, and volunteer; with further subdivisions of standing reserve and militia. if you wanted to be a sailor you should have bought a boat, signed on with a privet shipping company, or joined the merchant marines. the minute you stepped onto a warship and agreed to serve the state in an armed capacity you became a soldier.
I'm not going into the political agendas of the NAACP, black panthers, the nation of Islam, or the KKK, Neo-National Socialist Party, etc. I am simply saying without rewriting history that no matter how good he was at his job if the government didn't want people of color serving he wouldn't have served no matter how good he was or what he did. The fact that he was the first was an accomplishment of America overcoming our bigotry and letting the best men for the job do it. Overcoming bigotry isn't about what the discriminated party does it's about getting the discriminator to stop being a bigot.
What if the navy had let in a much less qualified person for the intent of busting him out later for incompetence or worse letting him get himself killed then say "Look, Black men can't handle it". then would being the first be such an accomplishment. No, and this would be a very different discussion.
The only reason that people care that he was the first black man is (A) Because he was a true hero and people that are constantly told they are different need people like them to look up to. and (B) because we as a species refuse to identify simply as human. We subcategorize creating a distinction between groups and this allows for discrimination and/or hate that leads to crimes like slavery and genocide. example the Irish are a distinct people in appearance and culture that for a century in the US and a millennium in Europe suffered discrimination. Now they don't. you don't hear anything about how much of an accomplishment it was for JFK to be the first Irish and the first Catholic president. why because they are now considered equal and the traits that distinguished them are now ignored. That's equality.
What MCBM Brashear did is, he became one of or possibly THE best diver the navy ever had Black White or Other. doesn't matter if you're the first or the 20th if you are the best. Give him that credit. and its time (to quote President Reagan) "Take Down That Wall" and unite us as people stop making any distinguishment between the races. every time you make that distinction you encourage segregation discrimination and hate and fear. and especially as more and more mixed race children are born like my stepson Zulu Japanese and Irish how would you define him? as a new race??
I'm not going into the political agendas of the NAACP, black panthers, the nation of Islam, or the KKK, Neo-National Socialist Party, etc. I am simply saying without rewriting history that no matter how good he was at his job if the government didn't want people of color serving he wouldn't have served no matter how good he was or what he did. The fact that he was the first was an accomplishment of America overcoming our bigotry and letting the best men for the job do it. Overcoming bigotry isn't about what the discriminated party does it's about getting the discriminator to stop being a bigot.
What if the navy had let in a much less qualified person for the intent of busting him out later for incompetence or worse letting him get himself killed then say "Look, Black men can't handle it". then would being the first be such an accomplishment. No, and this would be a very different discussion.
The only reason that people care that he was the first black man is (A) Because he was a true hero and people that are constantly told they are different need people like them to look up to. and (B) because we as a species refuse to identify simply as human. We subcategorize creating a distinction between groups and this allows for discrimination and/or hate that leads to crimes like slavery and genocide. example the Irish are a distinct people in appearance and culture that for a century in the US and a millennium in Europe suffered discrimination. Now they don't. you don't hear anything about how much of an accomplishment it was for JFK to be the first Irish and the first Catholic president. why because they are now considered equal and the traits that distinguished them are now ignored. That's equality.
What MCBM Brashear did is, he became one of or possibly THE best diver the navy ever had Black White or Other. doesn't matter if you're the first or the 20th if you are the best. Give him that credit. and its time (to quote President Reagan) "Take Down That Wall" and unite us as people stop making any distinguishment between the races. every time you make that distinction you encourage segregation discrimination and hate and fear. and especially as more and more mixed race children are born like my stepson Zulu Japanese and Irish how would you define him? as a new race??
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