The Right to Fight: Flight of the Red Tails

James Zhang, Chelsea Yang Senior Division Group We site

!ro"ess !aper !rior to the announ"ement of this #ear$s %&D topi", the mem ers of our group had 'at"hed Red Tails, a gripping movie ased on the a"tions of the Tus(egee )irmen during World War **+ We found these airmen e,tremel# intriguing, as previousl#, none of us had (no'n of their role in leading to the integration of the armed for"es+ )s 'e 'ished to do a pro-e"t on the rights of minorities in )meri"a, these airmen seemed to e a perfe"t topi" to resear"h+ Thus, 'hen 'e learned that the topi" 'ould e rights and responsi ilities, 'e "hose the Tus(egee )irmen for our %&D pro-e"t+ )fter "hoosing our topi" and re.'at"hing Red Tails, the resear"h pro"ess egan in earnest+ We egan our resear"h # finding a"(ground information on our topi", generall# reading "on"ise histories oth online and in print+ )fter "ompleting preliminar# resear"h on our topi", 'e then pro"eeded to egin resear"h on more spe"ifi" events 'ithin the histor# of these airmen+ The oo(s that 'e had read had given us several leads to follo', in"luding names of several of the studies "ondu"ted # the militar# in order to determine the via ilit# of segregation+ While resear"hing, memora le /uotes for the 'e site and possi le leads for further resear"h 'ere 'ritten do'n+ )dditionall#, 'e sear"hed for ne'sreels and pu li"ations from that era in order to learn of ho' the Tus(egee )irmen 'ere regarded during their o'n time+ With all of that done, 'e "ontinued on to the 'e site, although 'e 'ould "ontinue to sear"h for a fe' more sour"es 'hile 'riting the 'e site+ We "hose to "reate a 'e site, as our mem ers all have e,perien"e 'ith "omputers

and 'e design+ 0# "hoosing to ma(e a 'e site, group 'or( 'as also made far easier, as our mem ers "ould 'or( virtuall# an#'here, an#time, instead of having to "ongregate together in order to have a group meeting+ )dditionall#, 'e sites limited us far less than other "ategories, as there are man# things that 'e a""omplished online that 'ould e impossi le other'ise+ Thus, our 'e site 'as filled 'ith multimedia, using pi"tures, videos, and other materials in order to flesh out and give depth to our topi"+ We split the pages amongst our team mem ers, 'hile also periodi"all# revising and improving on ea"h others 'or(+ 1ur topi" relates to this #ear$s theme of rights and responsi ilities, as the Tus(egee )irmen led to )fri"an.)meri"ans gaining to the right to fight, instead of onl# eing a le to serve as menial la or or in other degrading fun"tions+ Furthermore, the Tus(egee )irmen fought against ra"ism at home, e"oming one of the progenitors of the nonviolent "ivil rights movement, 'hile also su""essfull# leading to the desegregation of the armed for"es+ Finall#, these men served as a s#m ol for )meri"a that all "iti2ens have the right and responsi ilit# to "ontri ute to this "ountr# and e treated fairl#+ The Tus(egee )irmen forever destro#ed the m#ths that allo'ed segregation, ra"ism, and pre-udi"e to ar )fri"an.)meri"ans from the right to fight+ 3454 'ords6