Battalion Sergeant-Major John W. Calloway, US Army, fought the Spaniards in Cuba, and then the Filipinos for two years, 1899-1900 – when an order was made in Manila that he be reduced in rank to private and discharged “without honor”. What was it that impelled the American colonial officials to rid themselves of this fine African-American non-commissioned officer who had served his country faithfully for ten years, and whose character had always been rated “excellent”, his “services eminently satisfactory”? Why was he dealt with through administrative procedures rather than a court-martial for the treason of which he was suspected?
BY GILL H. BOEHRINGER
Contributor
Bulatlat
Battalion Sergeant-Major John W. Calloway, US Army, fought the Spaniards in Cuba, and then the Filipinos for two years, 1899-1900 – when an order was made in Manila that he be reduced in rank to private and discharged “without honor”. What was it that impelled the American colonial officials to rid themselves of this fine African-American non-commissioned officer who had served his country faithfully for ten years, and whose character had always been rated “excellent”, his “services eminently satisfactory”? Why was he dealt with through administrative procedures rather than a court-martial for the treason of which he was suspected?
Calloway had become friendly with a number of Filipinos, as had many black soldiers who felt sympathy for people who were often treated as inferior and uncivilized. It was a familiar and deeply disturbing scenario, especially as the white Americans referred openly to Filipinos as “niggers” In the case of Calloway, it led to disaster. He had some education, a printer by trade, and was an astute, thoughtful man. He did an informal survey, interviewing Filipinos about their feelings toward the war and the occupying troops. In this process he learned a great deal about the real nature of the war, so different from the benevolent mission portrayed in the media at home (and in The Manila Times and the Manila Freedom, the jingoistic and imperialistic American-owned press.) The Sergeant wrote to an African-American newspaper in his hometown, the Richmond Planet, that the black soldiers were “between the devil and the deep sea” in regard to the war. They faced the dilemma of doing their duty for America where their people were repressed, while they were repressing the nationalist ambitions of a colored race which they found anything but uncivilized. And the concept of inferiority was, of course, anathema to him.
But Calloway went further. Having befriended the Consunji family of San Fernando, Pampanga in February 1900, he wrote to Tomas Consunji that he was “haunted by the feeling of how wrong, morally, we Americans are in the present affair with you. What a wrong to crush every hope and opportunity of a youth of a race… Would to God it lay in my power to rectify the committed error, and compensate the Filipino for the wrong done.” Calloway made other comments, some of which were along the lines that with the growth of education in the country they would gain their independence. He was obviously influenced by the conservative American black leader, Booker T Washington. None indicated an intention to assist the insurgents in any way.
Unfortunately for the Sergeant, the Consunjis, in particular the father Antonio, were under surveillance by US intelligence agents. They reported that the pair were “well known sympathizers with the insurrectos” and Tomas was said to have acted as a “political agent” for them. Perhaps this was particularly worrying to the Americans as they employed him in their own bureaucracy. Later, in justification of his friendship with the Consunjis, Calloway made the point that contact with him seemed appropriate. To no avail.
In October 1901, the Consunji house was raided and Calloway’s letter was discovered. As a result he was given a Court Martial. But strangely, he was charged with “breaches of discipline”. It was alleged that “being a married man” he had “lived in open adultery with a native woman”. Calloway was acquitted – the evidence did not support such a charge. A later official report indicates that “Mrs. Calloway is now in Manila, and apparently on good terms with Calloway, whose release she is trying to bring about.”
