The Negro Sailor is a 1945 documentary short film made for the
U.S. Navy[3] and shown by
All-American News, a company producing
newsreels and later
feature films for the
race film market. It was directed by
Henry Levin.[4] The film was inspired by the success of the film The Negro Soldier,[5] and was one of only five films documenting the war time activities of African Americans in a positive light before 1950.[6][7] Released after the surrender of Japan, the film highlights the service of African American seamen.[8]
Plot
At an
African American newspaper, employee Bill Johnson enlists in the U.S. Navy. Frank Roberts, the sports editor for the paper, convinces the newspaper's editor it would be a great idea for the paper to publish a column called "The Navy Team" where Bill would write about his experiences serving.
Caleb Peterson, Jr., the founder of the Interracial Film & Radio Guild, praised the Columbia Studios executives for including him in discussions in developing film.[14] However, the film was also seen as "an attempt to polish the notoriously racist reputation of the navy—made worse by events such as the
Port Chicago mutiny—among African Americans".[15] And while this film and The Negro Soldier "acknowledged African Americans' contributions to America's military history, by overlooking the persistence of racial segregation in the armed forces, they implied that the black struggle for civil rights was complete".[16]
The film is included as a supplement to releases of Harry Levin’s films The Family Secret[17] and Convicted.[18] The film was also released on a 2010 DVD set of
race films and was restored in 2016.[19]
^Richards, L. (1998). African American Films Through 1959: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Filmography. United States: McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers.
^"IFRG Member in Opinion on the 'Negro Sailor'",
California Eagle, June 28, 1945, p. 12.
^Promises of Citizenship: Film Recruitment of African Americans in World War II By Kathleen German,
University Press of Mississippi, 2017, pages 90-91
^African Americans and the Pacific War, 1941–1945: Race, Nationality, and the Fight for Freedom by Chris Dixon,
Cambridge University Press, 2018, page 9.