"Brownsville Affair" (August 1906)

The Brownsville Affair or Brownsville Affair was a racial incident that arose out of

tensions between African-American soldiers and white citizens in Brownsville Texas,in 1906.When a white bartender was killed and a police officer wounded by gunshot,townspeople accused the members of the 25th Infantry Regiment,a unit of Buffalo Soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Brown.Commanders said the soldiers had been in the barracks all night,evidence was planted against them.As a result of a United States Inspector Inspector General's investigation,president Thedore Roosevelt ordered the dishonorable of 167 soldiers of the 25th Infantry Regiment,costing them pensions and preventing them from serving in civil service jobs.A renewed investigation in the early 1970s exonerated discharged the African-American troops.The government pardoned them and restored their records to show honorable discharges but did not provide retroactive compensation.The Brownsville Affair arose out of racial tensions the white residents of Brownsville,Texas,and the newly-arrived African-American infantrymen of the 25th Infantry Regiment at nearby Fort Brown.The state had legal segregation at the time.Since arriving at Fort Brown on July 28,1906,the African-American soldiers had been subject to intense racial discrimination from the citizens of Brownsville.As a result of these racial tensions,a fight broke out an African-American soldier and a local Brownsville merchant.The city of Brownsville barred members of the 25th setting foot in the city again.On the night of of August 13,1906,gunshots killed a a white bartender and wounded a Hispanic police officer in the town.Immediately the residents of Brownsville cast the blame on the African-American soldiers of the 25th Infantry at Fort Brown.The soldiers of the 25th Infantry were accused of the shootings,the all- white commanders at Fort Brown confirmed that all of the soldiers were in the barrack at the time of the shootings.Local whites,including Brownsville mayor,still claimed that some of the African-American soldiers participated in the shooting.Local townspeople of Brownsville began providing "evidence"of the 25th Infantry's part in the shooting by producing spent bullet cartridges from Army riffles which they said belonged to the 25th's men.Despite contradictory evidence that demonstrated the spent evidence shells were planted in order to frame men of the 25th Infantry's role in in the shootings,investigators accepted the statements of the local whites and the Brownsville mayor.When soldiers of the 25th infantry were pressured to name who fired the shots they insisted that they had no idea who had committed the crime.Captain Bill McDonald of the Texas Rangers investigated 12 enlisted men and tried to tie the case to them.The local county court did not return any indictments based on his investigation,residents kept up complaints about the African-American soldiers of the 25th Infantry.At the recommendation of the Army's Inspector General,President Theodore Roosevelt ordered 167 of the African-American troops dishonorably discharged because of their conspiracy of science.This dishonorable discharge prevented the 167 men from ever working in a military or civil service capacity.Some of the African-American soldiers had been in the U.S. Army for over twenty years,while others were extremely close to retirement with pensions,which they lost.The prominent educator and activists,Booker T.Washington,got involved and asked President Roosevelt to reconsider his decision in the affair.He instead dismissed Booker's plea and allowed his decision to stand.