Tuskegee Airmen And The Civil Rights Movement

Imagine you are flying over America, the only place you're not a second class human, not worrying about discrimination. Helping your country paving the way for civil rights heroes. Then you land and you've faced with it all over again. You're just second class. These men, the Tuskegee airmen, were both American heroes and civil rights heroes.

They deserved a chance and not just be expected to fail. The NAACP used the Airman as an example to push for civil rights into government but it wasn’t without the Cold War that the government took the movement more seriously.

Being the first of anything is never easy, especially when you are representing a whole race. Knowing this, it was difficult for the Tuskegee Airmen, a.k.a. Red Tails for the red mark on the tail of their aircraft, to participate in World War II as the first African-American pilots in history. They served from 1943-1945, collecting marvelous records and earning great respect for their performance. But most importantly, the Red Tails helped attain equal rights for African-Americans. The Tuskegee Airmen showed persistence in the struggle to participate in the war, which set a precedent for colored-people, they showed

There are many influential people in history that do not get the recognition they deserve. Often times many critical and important events and names get buried within the world’s history, while others outshine them and take all the credit. For example, most people recognize Martin Luther King Jr. as a major civil rights activist, but they tend to forget people like A. Phillip Randolph and Thurgood Marshall, even though one organized the walk to Washington and the other also risked his life to get freedom for his people and wanted change. The same goes for the Tuskegee Airmen that fought for this country at point in history. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American division that fought in the war by air warfare. They kept their morale high even while facing segregation and racism from their leading officers and other divisions. Not only this, but their own country that they were fighting for, did not have any respect for them.

them a fabulous case of the battle by African Americans to serve in the United States

In the 1940s there was a experimentally group, that was created to test African Americans in planes to see if they would be helpful to the air force.This new group was called the Tuskegee airmen and was made up of all African American pilots who all studied at the Tuskegee university.The people who where in the Tuskegee airmen wouldn't be in the Tuskegee airmen project without the people of their past and how each African American in the military impacted their future.

Racism was still very strong and this kept the African Americans from even getting to help defend their own country. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, hopes for a change in segregation arose and the military started the ‘Tuskegee Experiment.’

The Tuskegee Airmen handled segregation very well during their time in training for World War Two. The training of the Tuskegee Airmen was an essential part of their achievements in the war. “[…]Tuskegee Institute was nominated as the citizen contract faculty to accommodate and prepare African American aeronautics cadets and pre-flight and primary flight preparation level” (Carter). This shows that without the Tuskegee Institute, the Tuskegee Airmen would not have been trained correctly to fly and fight in the war. The location of the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama showed that the Airmen fought through a great deal of segregation. In addition, the Civil Pilots Training Act played a major role in the start of the Airmen’s training.

Truman entered an executive order directing equal treatment and opportunity in the Armed Forces, which ended racial segregation, but not racism. The Tuskegee Airmen proudly accepted their mission. Their unwavering patriotism, coupled with their outstanding accomplishments, paved the way for historic change in the efforts to achieve racial equality.

No matter how good the Tuskegee Airmen are they always faced hard times. The Tuskegee Airmen were some of the best pilots in the U.S. Air Force due to the combination of pre-war experience and the personal drive of those accepted for training they always continue to have to face racism (Francis and Caso, 1997). The Tuskegee Airmen’s combary recond did much to quiet those directly involved in the group and people normally requested the Tuskegee Airmen because of their great record (Franic and Caso, 1997). Even though the Tuskegee Airmen had an amazing combat record other units still continued to harass them (Francis and Caso, 1997). After the hard times of segregation in the military was ended by President Harry S. Truman with Executive Order

John C. Robinson, enrolled at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and got his degree in Mechanics at only eighteen years old (Brownlee, R.A 2012). When he returned a war hero from being the commander of the Ethiopian Air Force, he dreamed of having an aeronautical school at Tuskegee (Brownlee). However, out of pure luck Tuskegee was chosen to be a part of the Civilian Pilot Training Program, even though Robinson didn’t have a hand in this and he was teaching at Keesler and Chanute Air Fields during World War II (Brownlee). He laid the foundation and standards for who African American pilots were during World War II: well respected, and had excellent piloting and combat skills. Through his determination and

During World War II, many African American Soldiers served the country with distinction. Most African Americans were assigned to non-combat units and worked in supply, maintenance and transportation jobs behind the front lines, but late in the war heavy troop losses forced the military to place more African American Soldiers into combat jobs as both commissioned officers and enlisted Soldiers. This went against long held beliefs that the black Soldier did not have what it took to be combat Soldiers. Soldiers in segregated units like the 92nd Division, the 761st Tank Battalion, the more famous Tuskegee Airmen and the

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of African Americans that were dedicated and determined young men that proved their point that not only white men could fight in the war but so could they. They created the 332nd and the 477th fighter group in the United States Air Force .The 332nd Fighter Group, which originally included the 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons, was the first black flying group. The 332nd group was also the flying escort for the heavy bombers and they were later nicknamed the “Red Tails” they were called this because of the distinctive crimson that was painted on their plane . Alought, 477th fighter group trained with the B-25 Bombers they never went to war because they didn’t finish their training in time.

Civil rights have always been an issue in the American society, which has been proven over the years by all of the prejudice comments made by white people. Negros were forced to drink out of different water fountains, use different bathrooms, and were overall treated as lesser people. Since the creation of the United States negros have either been slaves or segregated throughout our country's history, even today at some places people don't treat African Americans with the respect that they should receive. Even though the change has exceeded tremendously it is still far from perfect. Martin Luther King Junior was a key aspect to our society in pushing towards equality. During the civil rights movement there were many individuals who also helped the cause such as Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, and other significant figures that are well known today. There is a wide variety of feats that our nation as one, needs to surpass in order to be equal.

The notion of free society depends on growth. Widely seen as the catalyst of this movement and defender of democracy, America revolutionized the role of government in a nation with the Bill of Rights. Nearly 250 years later, personal liberties are ingrained in ethics and serve as the foundation of organization. Over time, these morals have changed to suit the needs of the people. As history has shown, resistance is the only path to reformation. Differentiation is the beginning of evolution, not just scientifically, but socially. Without it, outdated concepts would remain in power hindering growth, said best by Thomas Jefferson, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants,”. Free society requires individuals’ critical thinking in order to foster its progression. As civilization presses forward, it is clear to see peaceful resistance not only betters humanity, but is essential to the journey of acceptance and unity.