Two Texas Race Riots

Two Texas Race Riots details the forgotten story of two of the most unsettling racial episodes in American history. Amid a hotbed of racial tension, on the evening of August 13, 1906 and August 23, 1917, enlisted members of the United States Army's 25th and 24th Infantry (Colored) were involved in two of the most notorious race conflicts in U.S. history. Both regiments were part of the Army's famed "Buffalo Soldiers." The 1906 incident in Brownsville, Texas resulted in the discharge "without honor" of 167 African American enlisted soldiers by order of President Theodore Roosevelt. Many of the soldiers that were discharged had fought with Roosevelt in Cuba during the Spanish-American War and helped propel him into national prominence. The mass discharge was unprecedented in U.S. history. When the soldiers were finally vindicated in 1972, only two were still alive. The 1917 Houston riot resulted in the largest courts-martial in American military history, with 118 enlisted men charged with murder and conspiracy. 110 of the accused were found guilty, with 28 of the guilty sentenced to death. 19 of the 28 were eventually put to death at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. The regiments were led by all-white officers. None of the white officers in charge of the Buffalo Soldier regiments in either incident was convicted. Most went on with their military careers.

Fred L. McGhee is an award winning historical archaeologist, greenbuilder, diver, and sustainability consultant. One of the first African-American diving officers in U.S. Navy history, he earned his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin and is currently adjunct associate professor of Anthropology at Austin Community College. Two Texas Race Riots is his second book.