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Social Injustice Of African Americans In The Military

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Social Injustice Of African Americans In The Military
Natalia Knox
Prof. Crosbie
English 1C
29 April 2014
Social Injustice of African Americans in the Military
Combat between enemies was a white-man duty to his country. Blacks not considered as Americans citizens nor human beings were objects of ownership. In addition, they not allowed enrollment in the military agencies due to segregation. As casualties started to effect, the war and their race provision slowly took place for the black race. Black African Americans have served in most military agencies but with restrictions among them. Blacks and Whites divided into two divisions within the military; meaningless jobs were for the blacks. Many slaves pave the way fighting in the war in exchange for freedom. They were the first to fight with …show more content…
There was a concern for military efficiency as racial discrimination created serious morale problems and thus was a detriment to performance. Truman administration recognized that it would be difficult to confront key Southern congressional representatives by sending a bill through Congress (Binkin 213). Thus, in 1962, they reactivated the President’s Committee on Equal Opportunity in the Armed Forces, this time called the Gesell Committee after its chairperson, Attorney Gerhard A. …show more content…
They flew 200 bomber escort missions over southern Europe, without allowing enemy fighters to shoot a bomber. Their longest mission took them over Berlin where they encountered at least eight of the new, fast jet fighters. They shot down two and damaged the other five. The unit received two Presidential citations, and individual flyers received 150 medals. Tuskegee fliers also earned 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 744 Air Medals, 8 Purple Heart Medals, and 14 Bronze Star Medals.
Therefore, the “Tuskegee Experiment” proved that African-American pilots could fly and fight as well as their white counterparts. The Tuskegee pilots’ wartime exploits played a key role in President Harry S. Truman’s 1948 decision to desegregate the U.S. military, which in turn opened up opportunities for all African
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