2-part Essay. The two parts do not need to be connected, please address questions A and B for each part.
1. Using the document file named “Voices A Tuskegee Airman Remembers” write a 200-300 word Essay answering the questions below in a document.
a. What emotions did combat evoke in Patterson?
b. What do his comments about the German treatment of black POW (prisoner of war) simplyabout racism in the US military?
c. Do you think Patterson and the other Tuskegee Airman wanted to be treated as officersoras black officers?
2. Using the document file named “Voices Letter of the Montgomery Women” write a 200-300 word Essay answering the questions below in a document.
a. Explain the objectives or goals that inspired the activism of the members of the Women's Political Council as revealed in the letter by Jo Ann Robinson.
b. Analyze the significance of black women's political organizations in the early stages of the modern civil rights movement.
Voices A Tuskegee Airman Remembers Virgil Richardson was a Tuskegee Airman. In an oral history told to historian Ben Vinson III, Patterson recalled both the excitement of being an airman and the racism the Tuskegee Airmen endured: Between December of 1944 and March of 1945 we saw more action. After having muscled into France, the Allies were preparing to make their final thrust at Hitler. I remember when we flew escort for over 1,000 bombers on their way to Germany. It was an awesome sight, seeing bombers in every direction for a 150-mile stretch. Looking down into the sea we saw still more activity, throngs and throngs of ships. During these months our planes bombarded German factories and troop positions that were preparing to repel the Allied invasion. Thankfully, the Germans didn’t have use of the French fleet, which had been scuttled. But the Germans did have friends amongst the French, which made the Allied job more difficult. Part of our responsibilities included strafing radar installations along the coast of France. On one sortie, I was part of a mission of four planes led by a man named Ballard. My wingman was Jefferson. His wingman was a pilot named Daniels. As we came in towards the ground from an altitude of almost 15,000 feet, I suddenly looked back to find Jefferson and noticed that Daniels, who was flying in front of me, was going up in smoke. I pulled up and started following Ballard, who didn’t look back. That’s when I noticed that Jefferson was being shot down as well. Ballard and I went in as close to the coast as we dared and fired furiously at our targets. One, two, three . . . fire! One, two, three . . . fire! That was the interval. I shot short bursts while flying above the ocean at nearly 500 miles an hour. We lost a number of pilots that day. When I returned to base I learned that Faulkner, our squadron leader, who had been flying at 30,000 feet, turned over and went down. They radioed him, knowing that something must have gone wrong. He was probably unconscious because he didn’t respond. A poor oxygen connection apparently caused him to pass out during flight. As for Daniels, I learned many years later that he had survived his ordeal and had become a POW. Ironically, once behind enemy lines, the Germans treated him with proper respect. He was an officer, not a black officer. It seemed interesting to me to see how black soldiers had to be in the clutches of the enemy before being bestowed some of the honor that they deserved. SOURCE: From Flight © 2004 by Ben Vinson. Reprinted by permission of Palgrave Macmillan. All Rights Reserved. (Hine, 20170829) Voices Letter of the Montgomery Women’s Political Council to Mayor W. A. Gayle In this letter threatening a boycott of Montgomery’s buses, the Women’s Political Council politely asks not for the desegregation of the buses but only for new regulations that would prevent black riders from being forced to move to accommodate white riders. May 21, 1954 Honorable Mayor W. A. Gayle City Hall Montgomery, Alabama Dear Sir: The Women’s Political Council is very grateful to you and the City Commissioners for the hearing you allowed our representative during the month of March, 1954, when the “city-bus-fare-increase case” was being reviewed. There were several things the Council asked for: 1. A city law that would make it possible for Negroes to sit from back toward front, and whites from front toward back until all the seats were taken. 2. That Negroes would not be asked or forced to pay fare at front and go to the rear of the bus to enter. 3. That buses stop at every corner in residential sections occupied by Negroes as they do in communities where whites reside. We are happy to report that buses have begun stopping at more corners now in some sections where Negroes live than previously. However, the same practices in seating and boarding the bus continue. Mayor Gayle, three-fourths of the riders of these public conveyances are Negroes. If Negroes did not patronize them, they could not possibly operate. More and more of our people are already arranging with neighbors and friends to ride to keep from being insulted and humiliated by bus drivers. There has been talk from twenty-five or more local organizations of planning a city-wide boycott of buses. We, sir, do not feel that forceful measures are necessary in bargaining for a convenience which is right for all bus passengers. We, the Council, believe that when this matter has been put before you and the Commissioners, that agreeable terms can be met in a quiet and in a sensible manner to the satisfaction of all concerned. Many of our Southern cities in neighboring states have practiced the policies we seek without incident whatsoever. Atlanta, Macon and Savannah in Georgia have done this for years. Even Mobile, in our own state, does this and all the passengers are satisfied. Please consider this plea, and if possible, act favorably upon it, for even now plans are being made to ride less, or not at all, on our buses. We do not want this. Respectfully yours, The Women’s Political Council Jo Ann Robinson, President Source: Reprinted by permission of The university of Tennessee Press. From Jo Ann Gibson Robinson’s The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It: The Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, edited, with a foreword, by David G. Garrow. Copyright © 1987 by The university of Tennessee Press. (Hine, 20170829) 2-part Essay. The two parts do not need to be connected, please address questions A and B for each part. 1. Using the document file named “Voices A Tuskegee Airman Remembers” write a 200-300 word Essay answering the questions below in a document. a. What emotions did combat evoke in Patterson? b. What do his comments about the German treatment of black POWs imply about racism in the US military? c. Do you think Patterson and the other Tuskegee Airman wanted to be treated as officers or as black officers? 2. Using the document file named “Voices Letter of the Montgomery Women” write a 200-300 word Essay answering the questions below in a document. a. Explain the objectives or goals that inspired the activism of the members of the Women's Political Council as revealed in the letter by Jo Ann Robinson. b. Analyze the significance of black women's political organizations in the early stages of the modern civil rights movement.