African American Woman In Aviation History Essay

African American Woman In Aviation History Essay In the early 20th century, it was virtually unheard of a woman especially an African -American woman in aviation. Flying was predominantly for white males (Creasman, 1997), and considered too dangerous for females. In an era of racism, and segregation Bessie Coleman born a poor, black girl with limited opportunities’ persevered. Bessie broke the barriers of stereotypical labels for race, gender, and class by becoming the first black woman to obtain a pilots license, the first person in the world to obtain a international pilots license, and the first American to achieve this (Malveaux,2000). Bessie Coleman is a â€Å"role model for young black children† (Creasman, 1997, para.23), influencing others to pursue their dreams. Bessie paved the road for others, never letting prejudices ‘of â€Å"race, class, and gender† keep her from pursuing her dreams which provoked the start of the civil rights era( Creasman, 1997). Despite the odds of being poor, black, and female Bessie Coleman made a huge impact in American history. Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas in 1892 into an environment of poverty, repression, rage and fear (Rich, 1993). It was a era when blacks were disenfranchised and lynched (Rich, 1993). African-Americans were taught and treated like they were inferior to other races. Blacks could not vote, buy land, ride in the same train sections ,use the same bathrooms, restaurants, or use the same drinking fountains which whites used (Barnes, 1996). Those which protested ran a risk of being â€Å"tarred, feathered, whipped or lynched† (Barnes, 1996, para.4). The nation was suffering from a â€Å"severe economic depression† (Rich, 1993, para.14), and violence began to ignite in both â€Å"black and white communities† (Rich, 1993, para.14). Rich industrialists began to â€Å"create monopolies in trade and industry while laborers worked twelve-hour days, seven days a week. When the workers unionized and calle d strikes, the industrialists hired armed men as strike breakers† (Rich, 1993, para.14). In 1893 violence continued and panic among the financial sector caused stocks to drop . Soon banks folded, farmers lost their land, factories shut down, prices fell and unemployment increased (Rich, 1993). Bessie was the 12th of 13 children, the daughter of George and Susan Coleman. At the age of seven Bessies’ father, a nearly full-blooded Indian decided to move to Oklahoma closer to Indian territory. He believed he and his family would receive better treatment and receive the benefits of â€Å"full civil rights,† something the family did not experience in Texas because of racial discrimination. However, Susan refused to uproot the children and stayed behind (Yount, n.d.). Susan and the children lived in a â€Å"one room cabin,† and picked cotton to survive.Unable to make ends meet Susan took a job cleaning and cooking for a white family. It was important to Susan for the children to earn an education, so Bessie took on the role as a surrogate mother while Susan worked. Bessie did not have the life of a â€Å"carefree child†( Rich, 1993, para.34), instead she cleaned, ironed, cooked, and made sure her brothers and sisters were taken care of (Rich, 1993). Bessie and her siblings attended an all black school, but learning was limited because each time it was â€Å"cotton picking time† the school shut down. There were rarely textbooks, pencils or paper, and one teacher with a sixth grade education for grades one through eight in a single room building (Rich, 1993). However, Bessie was eager to learn, and had big dreams of â€Å"amounting to something† (Bessie Coleman, n.d.para.4). By age eight Coleman along with her siblings learned to read and write from reading the bible. Bessie enjoyed reading and often read books about black men and women which had made accomplishments in life ( Barnes, 1996, para. 12). Gifted in math, she kept track of the family book keeping for the cotton sold (Bessie Coleman, n.d.para.2).Bessie completed the eight grade which in those days was the highest grade individuals could achieve. In addition, Coleman was the top of her class, a very rare accomplishment at that time for black females (Smith, n.d.). This eagerness to learn prompted Bessie to attend college. Bessie took in laundry and saved enough money to attend college in Oklahoma but ran out of money after one semester and returned home.