Red Tails Rising: Tuskegee Airmen and white cornerbacks? How Does The New York Times William Rhoden have a Job?

There was more truth in Jurassic Park...

Two of the primary goals here at SBPDL in the coming two months will be to launch an all-out war for truth with regards to the Tuskegee Airmen movie Red Tails (we started it here). No, these Black pilots did not single-handedly
win the war over the Axis Powers during World War II. They didn't do much of anything, actually.

Their legacy? Well, considering that less than 2 percent of Air Force fighter pilots are Black (not to mention ALL major airlines having less than 2 percent Black pilots) right now, their legacy can only be attributed to the power of Black-Run America (BRA) attempting to forever keep white guilt alive and flourishing.

The other goal is the continued assault upon sports, that primary medium for producing the only positive images of Black people in America (though even that statement might be stretch, judging by the NBA's decline into thuggery).

This must be stated: Those men who will forever be known in BRA history as the Tuskegee Airmen, "the men who paved the way for V-E Day," were carefully selected from the right-side of the Bell Curve. Had they been selected from the left-side, well, this experiment would have failed before takeoff:

The eventual success of the Tuskegee airmen underscores the high quality of the men who served. Because of the rigorous screening, the men who selected for flight training and ground crew training were uniformly highly intelligent and generally well educated. Many had previous experience as pilots or mechanics. They were aware that they were under heavy scrutiny and that any shortcomings on their part would be used to justify ending all military aviation training for African Americans.

The Black newspaper The Chicago Defender would spread falsehoods about the Tuskegee Airmen war record of "never losing a bomber" they escorted over the -- virtually empty -- skies of Europe. It would take more than 60 years for the truth of this lie to come out. But to think that those Black men selected to take part in the real Tuskegee experiment were pre-selected for aviation experience. How many white pilots who engaged in the real air-to-air combat over Europe and in the Pacific had never even set foot in a plane before they were trained to fly?

Not so for the Tuskegee Airmen, men who were selected for being part of the purported "talented tenth." Sadly, since their exploits, few Black men have taken to the sky, grounded by the pesky reality of nature always supplanting nurture.

Which brings us to the second part of those aforementioned goals. The Opiate of America: College Football in Black & White will be released on National Signing Day, the culmination of a personal war declared on those who control a sport which should promote actual student-athletes instead of the children from the Black Undertow.

Perhaps it's fate that William Rhoden, the author of the embarrassing Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete (in what other vocation would Black people possibly have the opportunity to earn the outrageous salaries that the 21st market economy has created for athletes?), has penned a hilarious column for The New York Times that talks about the Tuskegee Airmen and the lack of white cornerbacks in the NFL. Remember, you have just learned that the US Military carefully selected high IQ Black applicants for the real Tuskegee experiment that became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Here's a part of Rhoden's weird column:

During a screening of a movie about the Tuskegee Airmen on Saturday, it finally occurred to me why the absence of white cornerbacks in the N.F.L. — or the presence of so many black ones — presents a compelling snapshot of the American condition. 

Often, in reaction to an article about the lack of black quarterbacks or the lack of black coaches and executives, critics point out indignantly that there are no white cornerbacks, either. The disappearance of the white cornerback has more to do with shrunken aspirations, a lack of confidence and a reluctance to compete.

Cornerback at the N.F.L. level is the most challenging position in sports. (PK NOTE: Wrong, Mr. Rhoden, quarterback is the most difficult position) It demands extraordinary speed and quickness. Like fighter pilots, cornerbacks must possess an unusual blend of physical strength and emotional toughness, the ability to think and act quickly under pressure.

The film, “Red Tails,” produced by George Lucas, is the gripping story of the Tuskegee Airmen, African-American pilots who fought in World War II. They were the first African-American aviators in the United States armed forces. The black fighter pilots were underestimated, marginalized, told they lacked the courage, the intelligence and the skill to be top-flight fighter pilots.

 Let's stop right here. Most Black people don't even have the intelligence to ENLIST (not even talking about officers) in the United States Army - having a failure rate of 40 percent when it comes to the entrance exam. The Air Force spends more than $1 million to train pilots to fly, so turning pilot training into a crash-course in Affirmative Action would inevitably end in many plane crashes. Let's take a look at some chilling data that shows Black people DON'T have the intelligence to be top-flight fighter pilots.

You see, the United States derives the bulk of its might from the vast military superiority it enjoys in aviation, and as we learned Black people find themselves lacking in a field where affirmative action policies are a death sentence for everyone involved:

“Only 1.9 percent of Air Force pilots are black, according to AFPC. Of 14,130 Air Force pilots, 270 identified themselves as black; another 620 declined to report their race.
“We’ve been trying for 20 years to get more black pilots, but it’s a little lower than it was 20 years ago,” said Stewart, who is a pilot.”

Black people in the Navy don’t fare much better (nor do Naval Academy Standards), for Navy Aviators that happen to be Black people are but 2.5 percent of the flyers.

White cornerback Julian Edelman makes at tackle

But let's continue to roll the ugliness that is Mr. Rhoden's weird column:

All 167 cornerbacks listed on active N.F.L. rosters last Monday were African-American, although Julian Edelman, a receiver who is white, has played a few snaps at cornerback for the injury-plagued New England Patriots. The evolution to today’s rosters began with the emergence of the American Football League in 1960. While the N.F.L. maintained quotas and engaged in steering and stacking, the rival A.F.L. was snatching up talented players wherever it could find them, especially at historically black colleges.

“You had more black guys coming into the league who were receivers who could fly, and they had to have defensive backs who could fly with them,” Beach said.

At some point, white players stopped believing they could fly. No more protection from open competition; everyone had to prove himself on a level playing field. Like the success of black fighter pilots, the presence of 64 African-American starting cornerbacks in the N.F.L. is an American triumph of meritocracy over protectionism. 

The long-term negative effect of discriminatory practices of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s is reflected in the almost complete abandonment of cornerback by young white athletes aspiring to play the position at the most competitive high schools. Dallas Jackson, who specializes in high school recruiting for Rivals.com, has seen the consequences. 

“I’ve been at Rivals.com for seven years; there has not been a white cornerback who has stood out,” Jackson said “I don’t think we have invited one to our U.S. Army All-American game.”  


He added: “White athletes aren’t going out for the position or they are getting pushed out at an early age or getting steered clear of it in peewee ball. There are white cornerbacks out there; they just haven’t been recruited. They play the position and they might end up in Division II schools or Division III. But when we talk about the N.F.L. level — I can’t remember a white cornerback in a long time. The white corner is a vanishing act right now.” 

Ozzie Newsome, the Baltimore Ravens’ general manager, said the lack of white cornerbacks reflected a failure to see possibilities.

“I was a pretty good quarterback growing up, but when it came to organized football, I knew I should become a wide receiver, because from everything that I was reading, all the blacks were getting their positions changed,” Newsome, a standout N.F.L. tight end from 1978 to 1990, said.

Once he became a receiver, the road to the N.F.L. became clearer. “Now you’ve got some heroes that you can look at; there is someone you can emulate who is black,” he said.

Young white athletes who might aspire to be N.F.L. corners can’t see themselves in that role.

“They’re going through the same thing that I went through when I wanted to play quarterback,” Newsome said. “ ‘Yeah, you can play cornerback, but by the time you get to college, they’re going to move you to safety.’

“I think the stereotype can affect your mentality. If you grow up not seeing something and hearing something your whole life, that starts to impact you: ‘I can’t do this, I’m not good enough to do that.’ And that becomes a part of your life.”

A similar phenomenon is seen in the kicking game. There are no African-American punters or kickers in the N.F.L. While white athletes shy away from cornerback because, in their minds, it requires too much athleticism, many African-American players eschew punting and kicking because it is not athletic enough.

Claude Mathis, the coach at DeSoto (Tex.) High School, said he had to beg his best player to kick and punt. “Kids make fun of you when you’re a punter,” he said. “When you’re an athlete. you don’t want to be labeled as punter or kicker; kids will make fun of you.”

But they didn’t make fun of Bryson Echols: he is an all-American cornerback and “an athlete” at DeSoto, headed to the University of Texas. 

“We’re not taught to punt and kick when we’re little; we’re taught to play other positions,” Mathis said of black athletes. “Look at the peewee league, look at the J.V. level, the junior high level, the elementary level, the professional level.”

Ted Ginn Sr., who coaches at Glenville High School in Cleveland, echoed Mathis’s sentiments. “Kids don’t see themselves as a punter because it’s always white punters in the N.F.L. or college,” he said. “They see themselves as a wide receiver or running back, not as a field-goal kicker who can stay in the N.F.L. for 15 years and make millions.”

In fact, kicking is a high-profile position at Solon (Ohio) High School. The last two kickers, who are white, went on to outstanding college careers: Pat Jacob was a two time all-Ivy League punter at Princeton, and Albert Benedict kicked for Gannon.

The lack of white corners and black kickers is less about sports and more about having dreams, seeing possibility and having the courage to explore one’s discomfort zone.

“I get upset with our guys when they let others not let them dream,” said Jim McQuaide, Solon’s coach. “Limiting themselves because of what others think they can or can’t do. Anyone can be a cornerback in the N.F.L., anyone can be a punter. That’s our mission as coaches; we have to push our players to do more.”

White corners, black kickers. Both groups can learn lessons from the Tuskegee Airmen, the legendary Red Tails, who kicked and scratched in pursuit of a dream.

In the end, they showed the world they could indeed fly.

How does crap like this get published? The Tuskegee Airmen, those "legendary" Red Tails, didn't scratch and kick in pursuit of a dream. They were carefully selected to ensure that they didn't fail, put into aerial combat when most of the German Air Force was grounded, and had their story carefully massaged over the years to maximize both sympathy for Black people during World War II and white guilt.

Guess what? It didn't completely work. Though it took 60 years, the story of never losing a bomber failed to pass the historically accurate test.

But for Rhoden to bring up SO MANY stupid points in his weird piece trying to show that potential white cornerbacks in high school should have the same courage as the Red Tails is laughable. We've shown time and time that Tom Lemming, the founding father of evaluating high school football, has stated white players are discriminated against because of the belief White men can't run. Guess what?

White Men Can Run.

And as Vdare published:

Well, for one thing, Tom Lemming, the founding father of recruiting guides, told Michael Lewis in the book The Blind Side that white high school athletes were discriminated against by college scouts and coaches because they couldn't possibly be as a fast as black athletes. He said the same thing to The Chicago Sun Times [What college coaches don't talk about, By Taylor Bell,  October 1, 2009]; he said the same thing to the South Bend Tribune. [Groomed to be grounded, By Eric Hansen, December 30, 2005]

White guys could play cornerback, but college recruiters believe that they can't play the position. It should be noted that ESPN: The Magazine published an embarrassing story on the lack of Black kickers in the NFL. Just as there has been a crusade to create opportunities for Black quarterbacks - of which Rhoden has been one of the leaders in that movement - there has been a push to create more opportunities for Black kickers.

 Why is there no crusade to get more white running backs (like Southern Methodist's Zach Line) and develop them? Why aren't white receivers being nurtured to be trusted to make the big catch? Why is there a social movement - really, a crusade -- to get Black quarterbacks in a more prominent role at the NCAA and NFL level? What about the paucity of white corner backs or safety's? Two white starting corner backs at the college level, Greg Heban of Indiana and Texas Tech's Sawyer Vest were both walk-ons. As is starting white safety Jordan Kovacs at Michigan.

Why, Mr. Rhoden, do white corners have to have courage, instead of having a well-funded campaign to publicize their plight? Why, Mr. Rhoden, is the United States Air Force Academy spending vast sums of money trying to come up with ways to lower its academic standards to admit more Black cadets (just like the military is across the board)? Why don't you make a documentary about the lack of white cornerbacks, white receivers and white running backs in the NFL, Mr. Rhoden, as you did on the lack of Black quarterbacks (or your Breaking the Huddle movie about integration of college football)?

If courage kept Black pilots in the air during WWII, what happened after the Tuskegee Airmen flew? Has nature kept them grounded, after the military worked to nurture the best Black pilots available for their little Tuskegee experiment?

The Tuskegee Airmen Myth will be exposed here at SBPDL (and one other place, with the debut of THE article that seeks to deflate the 'heroics' of this pre-selected band of high IQ Blacks that took the skies to combat racism). More importantly, we will continue to wage a war on the Caste System.