Book Reviews

• Pages: 04

ASSAULT AT WEST POINT THE

WHITTAKER*

COURT-MARTIAL OF JOHNSON

We canno: undo history But todag, finniiy, ue can poj tribute to u great Amertcon and we can acknowledge a great injustice.?

m never to ~niiire another by word, by act,or by look e ~ e n . . . Forgme us soon as you (ire injured, and forget as soon OS~OUforgii'e.2

On April 6, 1880, at the United Stater Military Academ?, West Pomt, New Yark. Cadet Johnson Chestnut Wh"mtaker, the only black cadet at West Point. missed the first formation of the day Short15 thereafter. the cadet officer of the day found \hittaker laying on his side on the floor. bloodied and beaten, hie arms and legs tied to the bed. In his book, Assault at West Point, John F. Mareialek chrom-clee Cadet Whittaker's personal struggles while at LVeesr Point. the attack. his court-martial for staging the assault, and his later suc-cesses m life From a historian's view point, Marszalek tells a story af institutional racism and the failure of the milita~yjustice system

The \\'hittaker case "was a sensation at the time. but had long since receded into history by the time \'hittaker. who \

Marszalek onginally wrote and published Assault at West Point in 1972, and then re-released this work ~n 1994, accompanied by a movie. Finally, mer twenty years after Its orig~nal publication,

1Presidenr Kil.iam CI nton. Remarks sf Johnson Chestnut 9h!tteker

Commiiaianing Jul) 24 1555

.~

coyer of hie Bible u

this work has raised public attention and caused a historical injustice to be corrected After reading John Marszaleks historical record, Assault at West Point, it Seems incredible that such an injustice could have occurred However, President Clinton's recent posthumous commissioning of Johnson C. )*%ittaker, only reinforces the author's major premisethat, m 1880, an injustice did OCCUI:

From cover to cwer, Assault at West Point provides a vivid description ai the difficulties that Cadet Whittaker suffered as a member of society ~n general and as a black cadet. The author painstakingly describes Whittaker's transition from a slave at birth in 1868 on a South Carolina plantation to a black cadet at the Academy. As B child, Whittaker helped his mother raise her three sans when his father abandoned them family an the day that he and his twin brother were born. With this mtroduetion, Yarszalek leads the reader through Whittaker's suffering and canvmemgly depicts a man of extraordinaly inner strengih who could not commit such an offense

At the outset, the author begins persuading the reader that Johnson Whittaker was B victim of institutional racism. Marszalek effectively highlights the political and social atmosphere in the United States in 1876 when Whittaker entered the Academy. Although blacks had begun attending West Point m 1870, by 1889 only three of the twenty-two admitted had graduated. As a black cadet at the Academy, Whittaker suffered insults and ostracism. The author describes Whittaker a6 academically, militarily, and soc~ally isolated. His first-year roommate, Henry 0. Flipper, a senior, became the first black Academy graduate. After Flipper graduated, Urnittaker remained the only black cadet.

The author captures the reader's sympathy with his graphic description of Cadet Whittaker's life at West Point. The white cadets, prejudiced from their upbringing, ignored Whittaker. He lived, studied, ate, and played alone. Except when offiieml duties required, no one talked to him. The other cadets would not stand near him in formation nor sit by him in the mess hall. Cadet I\'hittaker's Bible and relig~on were his only companions. Shy, lone-ly, and reli@aus, Whittaker attempted to concentrate on his studies, avoid confrontation, and graduate.

A physically vulnerable Individual, at eighteen years old, Whittaker was small and thin, weighing 110 pounds and standing five feet, eight Inches tall. During Cadet Whittaker's first year, a cadet from Alabama struck him-the Academy later court. martlaled and suspended the Alabama cadet. According to Marezalek, because Whittaker did not fight back, the cadets labeled him a coward.

Marszalek unsuccessfully attempts to persuade the reader

that Whittaker was academically average. However his academic record indicates otherwise, and &httaker struggled with his xud-ies. During his first year. nhittaker was at the bortom of his class Although Whittaker successful15 completed his second !ear, during his third year, he failed an exam and faced dismissal. Because he was the only black cadet at the Academy and *as hardnorking hIajor General John Ll Schofield. the Supemtendent, allowed Xhirtaker to repeat hia junior )ear.

The ass.aulr occurred while {\littaker was repeanng his rhird year On Apnl 5. 1880. the day before the aasault. Cadet \\'hittaker received a handwritten note stating. "Lk TVhittaker You will be fixed Better keep awake A friend I' Early the next morning. a cadet found Ukttaker on the floor in his underwear. his ankles tied together with cadet belting and then tied to the bedrail. Wrists together, his arms were bound ~n front of him Blood tobered his face, neck. ears. foot and his pillow blood was splattered on the mattress. floor wall. blanket. and comforter The blood came from his slajhed ear, a cmaller cut above that, parallel slashes on one of his toes, a scraped hand, and a bloody nose. On the floor around Khitraker. they found a blood spotted club. burnt Bible pages. clumpa of hair, E C ~ O ~ S , a hand mmo~,a bloody handkerchief, and a

packet knife

Despite this blood) scene. the Academy staff immediately believed \\'hittaker was faking After a fiie.mmute examination, the attending physician. concluding he was faking. interrogated the battered bloody cader Whntaker claimed that at 2 A.11 he heard a se and then three masked men entered his mom Khile threat. ng him not to speak. they grabbed his throat, struck him an the temple, and...