Stewart was one of the last surviving combat pilots of the famed fighter group known as the Tuskegee Airmen. They were the nation’s first Black military pilots. Their “Tuskegee” name came from where they were trained in Alabama.

Stewart grew up in a multi-cultural neighborhood and was shocked by the segregation and prejudice of the South when he went through basic training. This prejudice continued throughout his service during World War II. The Tuskegee Airmen are credited with losing fewer escorted bombers than any other fighter group during the war. 

Given a chance, they proved their merit as fighter pilots.

After the war, Stewart wanted to become a commercial airline pilot but was rejected because of his race.  In a recent interview, he said he was moved to tears when he boarded a flight a few years ago. Both pilots were Black – and both pilots were female.

I have been a life-long college football fan. I remember when the Southern Cal Trojans went to Birmingham, Ala., to play the Alabama Crimson Tide in 1970. The USC team had several Black players and Alabama’s team consisted of all White players. There was significant concern about the safety of USC players in Birmingham. In fact, Black fans were not allowed to buy tickets for the game.

USC thoroughly beat Alabama, a program used to winning national championships. The next year, there were Black players on the roster at Alabama and schools throughout the Southeastern Conference – schools that had recently been forced to admit Black students.  

Winning football games was more important than perpetuating unfounded prejudices.

Even after the Civil War and constitutional amendments, we have been struggling to provide true equal opportunity. Racism became covert instead of out in the open. Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act to outlaw employment discrimination.  President John F. Kennedy used an executive order to require Affirmative Action. But discrimination persisted.

Capability and merit are obvious when you keep shooting down the enemy’s planes or you keep winning the football game. The problem is that the measure of capability or merit isn’t so black and white in the corporate world.  

Black athletes can play the game, but can they coach a team?  Can a black quarterback win a Super Bowl? Can Blacks thrive at Harvard, be the best sales rep or run an engineering department?

Our prejudices are not just focused on Black people. Can a woman be a doctor, run a corporation, or fly an airplane? Is there a Jewish conspiracy to control banks and financial institutions? Do Mexicans really want to work or just freeload off our social programs? Are Muslims really terrorists?

Don’t get me wrong, we have come a long way toward accepting, working with and even loving people who are different. I personally regard our progress as remarkable considering how long slavery existed and the tortuous melding of multi-cultural immigrants into Americans. But are we done having to force the issue?

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that Affirmative Action programs are unconstitutional. Basically, their logic was that such programs amounted to reverse discrimination against White men. In a vacuum, that is a logical argument.  

But why now?  Affirmative Action programs have been in use for over 60 years. Millions of women and racial minorities have gotten job opportunities they would’ve never otherwise had a chance at – including Justice Clarence Thomas. Was it never OK to force equal opportunity that otherwise wasn’t happening? Or is there no longer a need to force equal opportunity – and if so, how was this determined?

Our new president has launched a crusade to abolish “DEI” programs, which are formal attempts to combat discrimination. The “D” stands for valuing diversity instead of fearing it. The “E” stands for equal treatment and opportunity. The “I” stands for respecting and including everyone’s voice.

Even if universities or corporations see a value in their DEI program toward ensuring no discrimination, they are being forced to stop such programs and erase related language from their work environment policies.  The implication is that White men with merit are being discriminated against by such programs, and that minorities with less capability are getting the jobs.

I do not believe we would’ve achieved our progress reducing discrimination without government pressure. I am unaware of any substantive evidence that suggests such pressure has costs that out-weigh the benefits. Meanwhile, the battle against discrimination clearly needs to continue.

In the larger picture, companies want to win in the marketplace just like Alabama wants to win on the football field. If they aren’t forced to have a DEI program yet want one anyway, it’s because they think their DEI efforts make them more successful.

Isn’t that the ultimate test of merit?