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What Is The Meaning Behind The Tuskegee Airmen

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I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky. These are some of the lyrics of a popular inspirational song in today’s time. If this song was written during World War II, it could have very well become the theme song for an outstanding group of men known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of Negro pilots who overcame numerous obstacles to change the landscape of a war and leave a powerful and lasting footprint on American History. Many of the obstacles that the Tuskegee Airmen faced are still very present in today’s society.

Before 1940, blacks were banned from flying in the United States Army. This ban was not due to any proven mental or physical deficiencies, but instead was due to segregation, racism, and …show more content…

It is true that the Airmen were allowed to enlist, however, they were not treated equal to the white pilots. Instead, they were treated as an experiment that was expected to fail. It can be argued that they were not only expected to fail, but that the Army superiors went out of their way to make sure that they failed. The Airmen had to train on inferior aircrafts that often needed work before they could be flown safely. Negro candidates were only allowed to train at Moton Field during W.W.II. Moton Field was located in Tuskegee, Alabama and was completed segregated. Moton Field was the only primary flight facility for Negro pilot candidates in the US Army Air Corps during World War II. Negro architects, engineers and workers funded and built Moton Field under contract with the US. Army. Tuskegee Institute staff worked to finish the field so that the training for the Airmen could start on …show more content…

This desire was met with road blocks and opposition so that whites could continue to feel superior. In an attempt to give truth to the claims that blacks were ignorant and incapable of handling advanced aircrafts, the Airmen were given inferior equipment and facilities. Despite these blatant displays of inequality and attempts to make them fail, they were determined to succeed and help the country win the war. The Airmen were still treated unfairly after the war was over despite the many accomplishments that they achieved in the war. This unjust treatment could no longer be justified by claims of inferiority, but was instead justified by

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Racial discrimination prevented African Americans from learning to fly up until 1941. In 1941 African American college graduates were selected to for an army experiment to fly in what was called the 99th Fighter Squadron, which trained in an airfield adjacent to Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute.

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