; Whereas subsequent research has confirmed the use of unsafe ammunition loading methods at the naval facility at the time and has documented the existence of pervasive racial prejudice in the United States Navy during World War II; Whereas according to the book The Port Chicago Mutiny by Dr. Robert Allen, a worker described Port Chicago as a slave outfit , adding that we were considered a cheap labor force from the beginning ; Whereas White officers would encourage African-American sailors to compete while loading ammunition and explosives while officers placed bets among themselves; Whereas following the explosion, many of the African-American survivors expected to be granted survivors’ leave before being reassigned to regular duty; Whereas such leaves were not granted, even for those who had been hospitalized, and all African-American men were to be sent back to work loading ammunition under the same officers as before; Whereas White officers were allowed to go home for 30-day leaves; Whereas 50 sailors of the United States Navy, all African-American men, ultimately were tried and convicted of mutiny for failing to obey orders to resume loading activities; Whereas a refusal to work is a passive act of resistance without intent to seize power; Whereas a mutiny is active revolt with the intent of taking charge; Whereas Thurgood Marshall, then a chief counsel for the NAACP, was reported as stating he saw no reason why the men should be tried for mutiny, which implies a mass conspiracy, rather than on lesser charges of individual subordination; Whereas Thurgood Marshall blasted the trial by stating that the defendants were being tried for mutiny solely because of their race and color ; Whereas the Navy has concluded that there can be no doubt that racial prejudice was responsible for the posting of Afro-American enlisted personnel to the loading divisions at Port Chicago