Soldiers for Justice: The Role of the Tuskegee Airmen in the Desegregation of the American Armed Forces

Abstract

Often noted for their heroic prowess as pilots in World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen served just as nobly fighting racial segregation within the Army. Considered exemplary in its integration today, the armed forces were a testing ground for integration in the middle of the twentieth century. Black officers and enlisted men, putting themselves in harm's way for a segregated United States, rebuked the notion of separate but equal, thereby slowly paving the way for integration in the military, and eventually, the nation. In this Article, F. Michael Higginbotham examines the history of segregation in the United States Armed Forces as well as the role and contribution of black soldiers, most notably the American Army Air Corps personnel, in the legal challenges and protests that led the battle to desegregate the armed forces.

Keywords: Tuskegee Airmen, racial segregation, World War II, Army Air Corps, integration, military, armed forces

JEL Classification: K19, K40, N42, N44