Righting Civil Wrongs: The Guam Congress Walkout of 1949

Abstract

When Guam received its Organic Act in 1950, after half a century of US naval occupation, it was not a benevolent gift from a generous colonizer nor a prize awarded to the Chamorro people for their loyalty throughout a brutal wartime experience. Rather, its long-overdue passage in an era of decolonization is attributable to various factors, including a half-century of Chamorro resistance climaxing with a walkout by the Guam Congress in 1949. The walkout generated intense national publicity, and friends of Guam residing in the United States stepped up their lobbying efforts, using the walkout to illustrate graphically Chamorro dissatisfaction with US naval rule. In a recent interview, former member of the Guam Congress, Carlos Taitano disclosed, "We knew something had to happen. We had to tell the American public. Martial law was really horrible and we had to create an incident which would bring publicity to Guam " (Carlos Taitano, personal communication, November 29, 1993). Taitano revealed that several months prior to the Assembly walkout, two news correspondents- one representing the Associated Press and the other the United Press- visited Guam to report on military affairs. He entertained them at his home in Mangilao and narrated to them a brief history of Guam under the oppressive naval government. Taitano and the newsmen agreed that if the Chamorro people's desire for self-government was to be heard, an incident of substantial magnitude must occur, great enough to warrant major coverage in the newspapers. Taitano agreed that should such an incident unfold, he would personally 1 inform the two reporters by radiogram. Details of the congress ' walkout were reported in newspapers throughout the United States. A few of the 1949 headlines read:

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