Black History Month: ‘Red Tails’ Impact

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — As the box office hit move, ‘Red Tails’ highlights the achievements of African American fighter pilots, a Midlands pilot reflects on the soldiers’ history, his heritage and future leaders’ hope. Commercial pilot, James E. Clark, knows if the Tuskegee Airman had not flown above and beyond the throngs of a segregated, Jim Crow country play their role in the United States military, he wouldn’t be able to fly at all. He credits South Carolinians, Ron McNair, a NASA astronaut and Ernest Henderson, the state’s first licensed commercial pilot and also a Tuskegee airman, for paving the way for him and others aspiring to prove others wrong. The Tuskegee Airman were the first African American pilots to serve in the military. Clark hopes an upcoming event shows children that the sky doesn’t have to be their limit. Richland County is hosting, ‘An Afternoon with the Red Tails’, on Saturday, February 25, at the Hamilton-Owens Airport in Columbia. It will take place from 2:30pm to 4:00pm, at 1400 Jim Hamilton Blvd, Columbia, SC, 29205. The event is free and open to the public. For more details, you may call 803-576-2065.