How Did Tuskegee Airmen Contribute To The Civil Rights Movement

Roscoe Heuer

Ms. Hedges

Survey

13 of May 2023

In what ways did the success and effort of the Tuskegee Airmen contribute to the progress of the American Civil Rights’ Movement?

With the decision to enter World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States called upon its citizens to take action. The US government embarked upon a fight for human rights in Europe and sought support during a critical moment in history. However, in great contradiction to our country's founding sentiments (“all men are created equal”), we entered this war whilst violating key democratic principles. Specifically, the treatment of African Americans during and after the war exposed the systematic racism and segregation that existed in American society

Although the Tuskegee Airmen were able to serve their country and create an incredible record, it was done so in the face of constant, systematic racism. Reports completed by the Army War College in the 1920s and 1930s concluded that African Americans were unfit and incapable of leadership roles and aviation. Officers who attended the War College even asserted that African Americans were a “mentally inferior subspecies”. Prior to the war, the idea of African American aviation seemed completely far-fetched and impossible. The War Department even went as far as to reveal that African Americans “didn't have the intelligence, [they] didn't have the courage” that it took to be a pilot of the US military. A federal government study before World War II concluded that “Black men could never be pilots because their brains were supposedly smaller, they were cowardly and they didn’t have the moral fiber to lead men into battle.” This was a real study done by the US Government. These stories reveal the racial discrimination that was engraved into American society during World War II. Our country chose to wage a war against the Axis Powers to fight for human rights when we failed to achieve equality in our own country. Even with legislation in the form of the 13, 14, and 15

As US Citizens witnessed the horrendous racism and oppression of the Axis Powers, the US government became incentivized to improve their own race relations which meant sparking progress towards equality for African Americans. Furthermore, the Soviet Union constantly compared segregation in the American South to the Nazi treatment of Jewish people. This can be categorized as the reason behind Truman’s Civil Rights push to pass Executive Order 9981 and ban segregation in the US Military. Furthermore, American democracy was often called into question following the World War because the Soviet’s condemnation of African American treatment was completely justified. From 1945 to 1952, the US occupied Japan to establish a democratic government system. Charles S. Johnson took this opportunity to compare race relations and civil rights in the newly established Japanese Democracy and the Democracy in the US. Johnson used WWII to advocate for democracy in the education of African Americans at home. If the US Government felt that the value of their democracy was ever in question, they would immediately transfer their effort to eliminate this idea. This can be seen through tangible results following the War such as Executive Order 9981, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Brown V the Board of Education in 1954.