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Vol. 19 Issue 9
Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex
March 24-30, 2014 | FREE
“Choose wisely who you allow to control your mind; Your Money & Your Vote these are the most powerful things you have; Be careful who you give them to.” ~Roy Douglas Malonson, Publisher~
Ernest R. McClure: Master of Mixology For 58 years, Lackland Air Force Base icon Ernest R. McClure had a front seat witnessing military history unfold and better yet, historical changes for AfricanAmericans serving in the military. It was during that time that he served in the troops using his class act work as a renounced bartender-mixologist at the military clubs on Lackland Air Force Base from 1948 until his retirement in 2006. “My goal when I accepted the job was to create a profession for myself through hard work, service, dedication and excellence,” he said. “It was not always easy and was a journey with roadblocks and detours. There has been rivers to cross and hills to climb, but in the end it was worthwhile.” At 85, he is a man who now wants to encourage the younger generation to see and understand the value of knowing Black history. “There just is not enough of pure Black history being shared with our people today,” he said. “We are not learning it, not using it and not connected enough to it to building the kind of Black pride and Black insights we need to develop our young people and our communities.” Some of those roadblocks started with the restrictions that were associated with over coming the hurdles of racism and segregation during that time. According to Black Historian Henry Louis Gates, President Franklin Roosevelt articulated in his famous “Four Freedoms” speech on Jan. 6, 1941, African Americans faced segregation, racial violence and deprivation of voting rights. Because of this great gap between the promise and performance of American freedom when it came to race relations,
many black people were alienated from the war effort. A. Philip Randolph’s threat of a massive March on Washington convinced FDR to ban discrimination against blacks in the defense industry in 1941, segregation in the armed forces persisted. Despite the Double V Campaign to rally Blacks to support the war, it was difficult to convince Blacks to do just that. The campaign failed to achieve its goals during the war and segregation in the armed forces remained official policy. In 1946, Truman established a Committee on Civil Rights, which reported back to him in 1947. The committee documented civil rights violations and racial violence and urged Truman to take steps to rid the country of the "disease" of racism. One of the points the report made was that African-Americans who serve their country did so in a racist and discriminatory environment. That report was instrumental in President Truman changing that in 1948. The desegregation of the armed forces was a major civil rights victory for African Americans. Though a number of whites in the military resisted and racism continued to exist within the armed forces, Executive Order 9981 was the first major blow to segregation. More than 2.5 million African Americans registered for the draft when World War II began; and 1 million served. The fight at home was against racial discrimination within the armed forces and the quest for equal and civil rights. That was just as important as the fight against fascism in Italy and Germany abroad. According to McClure, the U.S. Air Force took the changes to heart and set up
Lackland AFB Icon Shares Insights About Our Black Past and Future
See MCCLURE pg. 4