"Segregated Skies" Michael Cottman
Public Media Market is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. When you shop using our links, we earn a small commission. It’s a great way to support public media at no extra cost to you!
BUY Amazon | Bookshop
Featured on The Thread: A high school spoken-word club changed students' lives. Now, you can read their poems
After years of flying B-52 bombers in the United States Air Force, David Harris applied to be a pilot for commercial airliners, an opportunity no other African American before him---not even the famed Tuskegee Airmen---had ever been afforded. After receiving rejection after rejection, he finally signed on with American Airlines in 1964. But this success was just the beginning of another uphill battle for equal treatment.
It was the height of the civil rights movement, a time of massive protests as people struggled to end racial segregation and give Black people equal rights. As a light-skinned, light-eyed Black man, David was told by many people he could have "passed" for white. But he didn't do that. Instead, he made the bold decision to disclose his race to his employers and fellow airmen. He had experienced discrimination throughout his life, but this was different. He now carried the pride of his family and the hopes of future Black aviators on his shoulders.
