Tuskegee Airmen Impact On Society

The Tuskegee Airmen may be one of the most well-known and influential Air Force units in the history of the United States. They are often referred to as the “Red Tails”, or the “Red-Tail Angels”, as well . They are highly regarded as being the first African-American military aviators, and they helped to pave the way for many other African Americans to gain equal rights. The Tuskegee program began officially in 1941, after Pearl Harbor, with the 99th Pursuit Squadron at Texas University. As a result of their missions, they opened many doors for increased equality amongst black Americans, as well as earning notoriety and distinguished unit identification amongst the United States Airforce and military. Finally, the Tuskegee Airmen showed how

They are relevant today, because of the avenues and ripples that they caused in the world by becoming the first group of all-black military pilots, who served in a major war.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American pilots in the U.S. military, and the only ones in World War II. Before the emergence of the Tuskegee Airmen, no African American had ever been involved in U.S. Military aviation. In 1917, many African American men had attempted to become aerial observers, but alas, they were rejected. This injustice sparked two long decades of movements and advocacy, by African Americans that wanted to enlist and train in the U.S. Air Force. These efforts were led by many popular civil rights activists at the time, such as Walter White of the NAACP, A. Philip Randolph, who was a labor union leader, and Judge William H. Hastie. The NAACP helped advocate for a greater role for black Americans in the military. Most Tuskegee airmen were not affiliated with the military prior to the commencement of their training at Tuskegee University. Many joined the program because they did not wish to serve as ground troops on the front lines, and they wanted

This bill contained an Amendment created by Senator Henry H. Schwartz, and it designated funds for the training of African American pilots. The Government then handed the funds to civilian flight schools that were open and willing to train African Americans. These African American pilots in training still needed to be split into separate military units than their white officer counterparts. Finally, in 1941, a pressured decision led to the first all-black pursuit squadron’s commission, by the Army Air Corps and the War Department. Selection policies for this, and other all-black squadrons were restrictive, and they made the overall situation appear less promising for prospective African Americans, since there were only 124 African American pilots in America, according to the 1940 U.S. Census. The exclusionary measures failed majorly, because many pilots and airmen for this program who applied, were highly trained and qualified. Since Tuskegee University was the only Air Force training facility for black pilots in the United States military during World War 2, prospective pilots came for all corners of the country. Each prospective pilot would pass through a sequence of training