The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights

Throughout The Port Chicago 50, Sheinkin often focuses on the stories of individual historical players, narrating the ways in which they become emboldened to combat racism. Though each of these individuals has their own highly unique path towards action, Sheinkin frequently highlights the struggles, questions, and doubts that accompany one’s growing awareness of discrimination and the resolve to stop it. 

In particular, Sheinkin often narrates the ways in which early experiences with racism can lead one to develop a deepened understanding of injustice. Sheinkin describes several childhood episodes for two of the most important characters in The Port Chicago 50, Joe Small and Thurgood Marshall. Both Small and Marshall encountered racial discrimination during their youth. In school, Small was frequently bullied by a small white student, who would call Small “Smokey”—drawing attention to the color of Small’s skin (28). Though the bully would frequently hide behind his stronger cousin to escape conflict, one day Small finds the bully on his own, and Small gives the bully “a good whipping” (28). In an episode that echoes Small’s bully, Marshall is called the “n-word” by a white man while trying to do his job as a deliveryman.