A Duality of America
There is no question that Tuskegee holds a special place in American history. Many people can point to this place to show just how our country came together and decided that we were going to fight a war to free others oppressed by Nazi tyranny.
That war was World War II. Black soldiers fought and engaged with enemy soldiers in the Eastern and Western theaters of the war. However, we may have fought together, but separately.
Black Americans were told in propaganda film after propaganda film that bigotry and racism were part of life. You can’t control every man’s prejudice, but you could still fight for your country. This was a chance to show that racists what Black America could do.
But what was White America ready to give back in return?
It was their Black fathers that fought in the battlefields of France against German soldiers. However, they fought under the French Tri-colour and not under the American flag. It was the governments of other nations that valued their contributions, but not their own.
Certainly, things were changing, right?
