They Were Fighters In War, And Champions In Competition

group of airmen standing together
Via Flickr
Adé Hennis
January 14, 2025

The 1986 Oscar-winning movieTop Gun made the Navy part of mainstream culture and repaired the military’s image after the Vietnam War. But this movie is a whitewashed version of one of the Blackest moments ever.

The room was dead silent. No one had expected the four Tuskegee Airmen to dominate the inaugural Air Force Top Gun Fighter Gunnery Meet in 1949. The white flyboys couldn’t even believe that the Airmen were real people, because no way could Black men be better fighter pilots than they were.

Months of effort had gone into staging this prestigious event only for the winners to go unrecognized for 55 years. The Air Force “lost” the trophy that the Airmen had won, until it was found gathering dust in storage in 2004. It’s not the Navy, but something sure smells fishy.

So while the Top Gun movies remain a staple of American pop culture, remember that white people were not the main characters of this story. It was us as usual, who saved the day both on and off screen. These men did exist and they're still real-life superheroes.

The real airmen demonstrate that no matter how great we make this country and show our excellence, racism still tries to make us disappear. But like these airmen, we all gotta stay fly in our Blackness – for the culture.

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