BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY: BLACK PEOPLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE U.S. AIR FORCE ( 1907 - 2007 )

Black People have fought for the United States through out its history defending and serving a country that in turn denied them their basic rights as citizens. Despite policies of racial segregation and discrimination. Black People serving as soldiers played a significant role from the colonial period to the Korean War, It wasnt untill the middle of the 20th century that African American soldiers began to receive the recognition and equality they deserved. World war two was the water shed for race relations within the Armed Forces, and it marked the beginning of the end for racial separation within military units. In 1948 President Harry S. Truman ordered desegregation of the Armed Services and equality of treatment and opportunity without regards to race, color, religion, or national origin.

The 1960s marked a major transformation for African American citizens in the United States. The first major deployment of an integrated military to Vietnam. The Vietnam saw the highest proportion of African American ever to serve in an American War, this war changed the attitude in previous wars that Black Men were not fit for combat, during the Vietnam war African American faced a much greater chance of being in the front-line and consequently a much higher casualty rate. In 1965 alone Black Soldiers in combat represented almost 25% of those killed in action. In 1991 the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff was an African American maned General Colin L. Powell.