Black Officer, White Navy

by Reuben Keith Green USN

Overview

Black Officer, White Navy is likely the first memoir of a Black naval officer who rose from high school dropout to unrestricted line officer in the post-Vietnam War era. The author's unique career path and insightful analysis of both his personal experiences and those of others in the military give a clear picture of what was happening both within and outside the Navy, and how the forces of discrimination and institutional denial and damage control efforts can make a career in the military fraught with obstacles, as well as opportunities, for a well-qualified minority of any gender, race, or ethnic origin. Recent events and the impact of the commander in chief's statements and actions, which have a direct impact on the thinking and behavior of persons in uniform, make this a timely addition to any military member's library. It is full of potential case study material for any military instructional or group facilitation activity, as well as providing an historical overview of what it was like to be a minority sailor or officer between 1975 and the mid-1990's. Any sailor in uniform, regardless of pay grade or commissioned status, can both benefit and learn lessons from this work. Families can use this work to prepare their own loved ones or to help them try to understand the often lingering consequences of their loved one's military service.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781975747541
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	09/25/2017
Pages:	350
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Reuben Keith Green is a retired naval officer who rose from seaman to lieutenant commander is the surface warrior Navy. His unique career path and insight, as well as a lifetime of personal study, make him exceptionally well qualified to tell the story of black officers, particularly Mustang officers, in the era of documented widespread backlash to affirmative action and subsequent resistance to black social gains in the Reagan and first George Bush eras. He stresses the importance of cogent leadership within the military, starting with the Commander in Chief. He graduated from the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, Patrick AFB, Florida, in 1980, and taught leadership and substance abuse prevention classes, as well as interpersonal and intercultural communications for several years while in the Navy. His close working relationships within the military justice system, with accused and those dispensing justice, gives him important perspectives on why the punishment rates for minority sailors continues to be higher than is statistically appropriate, despite decades of futile attempts by the department of defense to remedy this disturbing phenomenon.

Editorial Reviews

2017-12-01
An officer recounts the obstacles he faced as a minority in the Navy in this debut memoir.A black high school dropout who joined the Navy in 1975, Green retired two decades later as a decorated surface-warfare officer. There weren't many black naval officers at the time, and Green is the first to tell readers that his was not a smooth ascendancy. The author uses his own story as a window into the institutional discrimination that he asserts has always characterized the Navy. While conditions have improved a bit since Green's day, sailors who are female, LGBT, or from minority backgrounds continue to fight uphill battles to earn places in ships' wardrooms, according to the author. Weaving between history and personal experience, Green's narrative begins with Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Zumwalt's efforts to reduce racism and sexism in the Navy and ends with Green going head-to-head with a discriminatory commanding officer in the 1990s. Along the way, he butted heads with all manner of obstacles and characters, discovered his aptitude for engineering, excelled in a system that viewed him with hostility, contended with ship explosions and helicopter crashes, and helped bend the arc of history a little closer to justice. "Unlike most sea stories," writes Green, "this one is largely verifiable, has a mostly happy ending, and, as most old sailors would say (but not quite this way), every word of it is true." Green has a natural raconteur's ability, telling his story with candor and humor: "I have been in several David versus Goliath battles, created a few tipping points, and have often had the dog's perspective, having been occasionally treated like one. Sometimes I wonder if" Malcolm Gladwell "might have been secretly following me around." Much of the book's drama takes place in the world of naval bureaucracy and protocols, so it does not always make for the easiest or most exciting reading. That said, Green's account skillfully confronts the racism he faced head-on and makes no apologies for the status quo. His eloquent warnings for what he sees as America's current crisis in leadership underscore the fact that, for the Navy, plenty of troubled water still lies ahead.A frank and detailed memoir of service in the face of discrimination.

Kirkus Reviews