The Sailors Who Would Not Load

During the war, Black sailors loaded ammunition onto ships at a naval depot. One night an explosion killed and injured hundreds of people, destroying two ships and wrecking the nearby town. White officers were given hardship leave. The Black sailors were ordered straight back to the same work, with no explanation of what went wrong and no extra training. Hundreds refused. Fifty of them were tried together for mutiny. Mutiny means an organised effort to defy or overthrow lawful naval authority, not simply refusing a dangerous order.