U.S. Coast Guard Promotes First Black Female Admiral

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Zeita Merchant has made history as the first Black female admiral in the service’s 233-year history. Admiral Merchant, previously the commander of Sector New York, will now lead the Coast Guard Personnel Service Center in Washington, D.C., where she will oversee recruitment and scholarships. Merchant said she initially joined the Coast Guard with the intention of financing her medical school education. “I always had this passion for service, but I never thought it would be in the form of military service. I really feel like this is God’s plan and not my plan,” she told the Clarion Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. Officials said the promotion highlights the Coast Guard’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion.& Historian William H. Thiesen notes that African Americans have played a pivotal role in the Coast Guard’s history since its inception in 1790. “From the earliest days of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, Black sailors served alongside their white counterparts, with many making significant contributions during conflicts such as the Quasi-War with France and the War of 1812,” Thiesen wrote in a column for the Coast Guard’s newsletter. He wrote that the Coast Guard’s rich and illustrious history of African...