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Volume 38 Issue 10
February 27, 2001

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Arizona’s unsung heroes

LEGEND'S VIEW
MESA LEGEND
Submitted February 27, 2001

The idea of a period of time set aside to celebrate the accomplishments of African-Americans began in the 1920s with a man named Carter G. Woodson. He created and promoted Negro History Week in an effort to educate all Americans about the contributions of a group of people who, at the time, were being left out of history books.

He chose a week in February that contained the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas, his trusted African-American advisor whom Lincoln said was "the most meritous man in the 19th Century."

Douglas, commonly known as the "Father of the civil rights movement," dedicated his life to achieving justice for minority groups and women.

In 1976, the celebration was extended to what we now enjoy as Black History Month.

Whatever we chose to call it, the fact is that black history is American history, and simply setting aside one month a year during the electronic age, when the information superhighway provides unlimited resources, is just not enough.

We should celebrate throughout the year the accomplishments of those who were able to make a difference in this country even as they were disrespected by those in power over them.

Although history is just a few clicks away, most Americans don’t have a clue.

Most people don’t realize that the first Non-Native American to set foot on Arizona soil was an African-born slave named Esteban, who escaped from his owners in 1539 and came to the state as a guide for Missionary Marcos De Niza.

When Will Smith played a cowboy in the movie "Wild Wild West," people scoffed at the image of a black cowboy in the Old West. However, there were more black soldiers on the frontier than most people realize.

Although their faces are absent from John Wayne movies, their contributions were important.

The black troops that were instrumental in conquering the West were called Buffalo Soldiers, and among them were numerous heroes.

The Ft. Huachuca 10th Calvary, 12 companies of which constituted 696 enlisted black men, was famous for their relentless pursuit of Geronimo and their key role in the 1898 victorious charge up San Juan Hill.

The 10th Calvary left early and spent 48 hours softening up the Spaniards to make way for Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders. Roosevelt has been known to proclaim that if it wasn’t for the black soldiers, the Rough Riders would have been exterminated.

On May 11, 1889, the first black Arizonans to receive the Medal of Honor, Sgt. Benjamine Brown and Cpt. Isaiah Mays, were hailed for their valiant efforts to stop a $26,000 robbery of a payroll wagon, during which they were both wounded.

In 1909, segregation was made legal in the Arizona Territory. Although the state had brought many blacks prosperity and an escape from southern racism and lynching, they still faced discrimination and harassment.

There are numerous instances in Arizona history of pushes toward racial equality. In 1948 NAACP student committee members entered a Phoenix Walgreens lunch counter and sat down from 4PM until 9PM for three days holding signs saying, "Why should we shop here when you won’t let us eat here?" It was the first time local media covered such an event.

After several more similar sit-ins, Walgreens finally agreed to open it’s lunch counters to black people in 1951.

The stories of these unsung heroes should be taught in schools and retold regularly.

People have heard of the buffolo soldiers and the "soldiers" in the fight for civil rights but they are often hard pressed to know anything about the personal battles of these heroes.

It may have been another time and place but we are fighting the same battle.