With the country still grappling with racial inequality,surviving members of the Triple Nickles, black soldiers who paved the way for more military integration, or spoke of the unease that comes with the thought of a Trump presidencyThey signed up a lifetime ago,young men willing to serve their country even though their country did not serve them. They were told they were inferior: inferior humans, inferior soldiers, and fit for peeling potatoes and sweeping barracks,shovelling coal and driving trucks, but not fighting.
They were black – negroes, and in the era’s parlance – and the United States did not want them in foxholes alongside white soldiers. And it emphatically did not want them as paratroopers floating down from the sky. Not that they would. Black guys would be too afraid to jump.
I’m not certain whether I wanted to accomplish it out of pride or to prove I could accomplish it. But I did it. We all did itI wouldn’t vote for Donald Trump to be dog-catcher. I don’t think he’s good for the country or the black raceThe main problem is our history was hidden Related: As climate change worsens wildfires,smokejumpers fight blazes from the sky Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com