In 1946, a Black army sergeant named Isaac Woodard was beaten by a police chief after being pulled from a bus, leaving him permanently blind. The incident sparked outrage and contributed to the desegregation of federal offices and the military two years later.
American Experience
The brutal 1946 attack on blind Black army sergeant Isaac Woodard, who had just returned from serving in WWII, became a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, igniting a spark of outrage and activism.
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