14. America’s WWII Black Airmen
African Americans played a significant role in America’s military history. They did so despite the limited opportunities, adversity, and open hostility that they frequently had to contend with when they tried to serve their country. Particularly from higher ups who believed that blacks were racially unsuited for leadership or combat duty. Accordingly, they designed and implemented policies to deny them leadership opportunities and training. An example was the widespread conviction in American military aviation circles, before and throughout WWII, that blacks were manifestly unsuited for aerial combat.
Notwithstanding, African American pilots were trained and organized into racially segregated all-black squadrons that were sent to serve overseas. They came to be known as the Tuskegee Airmen, after their training base in Tuskegee, Alabama. They flew P-40 Warhawks, Bell P-39 Airacobras, Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, and finally, the planes with which they became most closely associated, P-51 Mustangs. The black airmen put up impressive numbers during the conflict, and by the time the war was over, they had put to rest the myth that aviation was too challenging for African Americans.
