President Harry S. Truman, a Southerner born and raised in the briar patch of racial superiority, went against the norm after learning of brutal atrocities against African American servicemen returning from overseas.
At the urging of civil rights leaders and considering his own reelection chances, Truman decided to do something that changed the nation forever. He removed, by issuing Executive Order 9981, the shackles of discrimination in the military.
To do this, he needed an example of undeniable success at leadership, both military and civilian. The one branch of the military that would provide him bragging rights was the Tuskegee Airmen, who were America’s only African American aviators, who fought heroically against racism at home and fascism overseas.
In 1998, Gen. Colin Powell wrote, “The military was the only institution in all of America — because of Harry Truman — where a young Black kid, now 21 years old, could dream the dream he dared not think about at age 11. It was the one place where the only thing that counted was courage, where the color of your guts and the color of your blood was more important than the color of your skin.”
This July 26 is the 73rd anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9981. Celebrate it.
Don Blakey
President, John Porter Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Inc.
Dover
