America is poorer now than we were January 4. On Jan. 5, 2012, Col. Fitzroy “Buck” Newsum, one of the Tuskegee Airmen took his final flight.
I had the privilege of meeting Col. Newsum about ten years ago at an airshow. I took off “in search of” the minute they announced he was present but couldn’t find him. Late in the day we bumped into him, already hot and tired. Just the same, the Colonel seemed to enjoy our lengthy conversation. I’m deeply grateful for his perspective.
There aren’t words to explain just how much I admire anyone who excels in a hostile culture. Grace and effective opposition under such injustice set a marvelous example. It requires tremendous character. That doesn’t make such individuals paragons of virtue; it indicates development of a special wisdom and self-restraint worth understanding.
My hope in meeting Col. Newsum was to learn some of that wisdom. I packed my wonderings into one question: How do you handle a mistake?
“What kind of mistake?” he wanted to know.
“ANY kind.”
He thought about it for almost a minute. “First, be hard. If it’s you that made it, be harder. Then you learn from it and move on. Don’t let it keep bothering you.”
Sage advice for any occasion, it was been one of the most liberating conversations I’ve ever had. Today, as we swear in Barack Obama, I believe it holds true for our culture as well.
Col. Newsum introduced me to Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/
Attending a meeting of the Hubert “Hooks” Jones Chapter left me awed, stunned—and grieved: Awed at the kindness and caliber of the individuals. Shocked, because the older members of the chapter were still pinching themselves and wondering if being treated with honor at a parade in Pueblo was real.
All those years of injustice left very real scars in the lives of these great individuals. Overcoming obstacles came hard. It shaped much of their lives. They had been so hurt for so long that the changes pervasive in my typical environments had not fully penetrated their existence.
At last, some degree of the honor so long overdue was being enacted.
If we are to move forward at all, we must choose to expect the best from one another even as we also hold people accountable for their actions. Our lens for gauging wisdom must not be colored by race, but by the quality of character and effectiveness of actions.
I’ve quit answering surveys about my ethnicity. They are divisive, counterproductive.
I take pride in my American heritage, despite my grief and shame at our mistakes. It is the culmination of sacrifices by so many, and in many ways is still great.
And I honor heroic actions to the best of my ability, wherever they may be found.
Thumbs up, Col. Newsum! May God bless our efforts for freedom!
http://www.taisf.org/