Black Sailor, White Navy

John Darrell Sherwood has mined the archives of the U.S. Navy and conducted scores of interviews with Vietnam veterans - both black and white - and other military personnel to reveal the full extent of racial unrest in the Navy during the Vietnam War era, as well as the Navy's attempts to control it. During the second half of the Vietnam War, the Navy witnessed some of the worst incidents of racial strife ever experienced by the American military. Sherwood introduces us to fierce encounters on American warships and bases, ranging from sit-down strikes to major race riots - in particular, the incidents on the USS Kitty Hawk, the USS Hassayampa, and the USS Constellation. Sherwood seeks out the cause of this racial turbulence, and asks if the Navy's subsequent reforms led to any resolution.