After approving a ban on DEI, NC House votes to honor the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen
Members of the Tuskegee Airmen circa May 1942 to August 1943. (Photo: Public domain)
The irony of the moment was likely not lost on Rep. Renée Price.
Shortly after a tense, hours-long debate in the state House and the passage of a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across North Carolina government, it was her time to speak on House Bill 254.
The Orange County Democrat stood and asked her colleagues to support legislation that would designate the fourth Thursday of March as 'Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day' in North Carolina.
In 1941, the federal government established the 66th Air Force Flying School at Tuskegee Institute to train Black pilots for the war.
Almost 1,000 African Americans trained at the Army Airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama; and 450 of the men who completed training were sent overseas for combat duty. Most battled discrimination and other challenges not experienced by white individuals in the officially segregated U.S. military. And for those who survived, many such challenges persisted in the decades that followed — a phenomenon that DEI policies sought to combat.
'The Tuskegee Airmen were pilots, mechanics, bombardiers, navigators, crew members, nurses, and instructors,' Price said. 'From 1943 to 1945 in the European Theatre, they provided escorts during bombing missions, helping the Allied Forces in achieving a victory in the global conflict that caused horrific destruction and casualties.'
The Tuskegee Airmen flew hundreds of patrol and attack missions — first flying older and less well-equipped P-40 and P-39 airplanes, before ultimately being reassigned to escort B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers, using P-47 and P-51 airplanes. They earned the nickname 'Red Tails' from the distinctive painted tails of the Tuskegee fighter planes.
'I have a personal interest in this request,' Price shared. 'Even though he was from New York State, my father was actually part of the 99th Pursuit Squadron and was with the 332nd Fighter Group.'
Rep. Nasif Majeed (D-Mecklenburg) told members of the House that as a decorated Air Force combat pilot who flew 120 combat missions over North Vietnam, the history of the Tuskegee airmen was very dear to him.
'I stand on their shoulders,' said Majeed. 'They were known as the Red Tails and all the bomber pilots said that because of their outstanding record, they wanted them to escort them because they lost fewer aircraft.'
The National WWII Museum notes that while 66 Tuskegee Airmen died in combat, it was one of the lowest loss records of any escort fighter group. They are credited with completing more than 1,500 missions, destroying 260 enemy aircraft, and sinking an enemy German destroyer.
Rep. Abe Jones (D-Wake) said it was a Tuskegee Airman who helped change the trajectory of his life.
After the war, Harold Webb became a teacher and a principal, and served as a leading force for school integration, according to the Raleigh Hall of Fame.
Governor Jim Hunt later appointed Webb as the first African American director of the Office of State Personnel in 1977. The former Tuskegee Airman worked to strengthen the state's Equal Employment Opportunity program that was dedicated to diversifying and strengthening the state's government workforce.
'I'm proud to be able to have a chance to vote for this bill,' Jones told his House colleagues.
Rep. Jay Adams (R-Catawba) became emotional as he thought about his own father in World War II.
'He was shot down outside of Rome in January of 1944. He spent 16 months in a German prison camp.'
Adams said it was after his capture in a dark, crowded box car that his father met a fellow southerner and aviator named William E. Griffin from Montgomery, Alabama. Griffin took flight training at Tuskegee, earned his wings in 1943, and flew more than 23 flights over enemy territory.
'William E. Griffin became one of my dad's best friends. They dug tunnels together. They cooked together. They exercised together. They did everything together for 16 months.'
After the war, the two POWs lost touch.
Adams said his father was deeply saddened to learn in 1992 that Griffin died in 1969.
'Willie E. Griffin was the only Black guy in that prison camp. In the end of the war, there were 8,500 airmen there. But he was one of them. They were best friends. This is very special to me.'
Adams said it took years, but he made sure that letters his father had in Griffin's own handwriting were returned to his daughter.
'He was very educated. He was a smart guy.'
Adams, a co-sponsor on the Tuskegee bill, joined 68 of GOP colleagues in voting to approve the bill to ban DEI programs.
Earlier this year, in an effort to comply with Trump administration's crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion, the Air Force removed videos that included stories of the Tuskegee Airmen from the military's training materials.
Bipartisan outcry over that hasty decision led Air Force officials to walk back the order.
Locally, the Heart of Carolina Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Wilson V. Eagleson Chapter are now seeking the special day of commemoration outlined in House Bill 254 to ensure that the history of America's first Black military pilots and their triumph over adversity is never not forgotten.
HB254 won a rare unanimous vote (114-0) on Wednesday in the state House and now moves to the North Carolina Senate.
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