I've watched troop trains come home from WWII with Black soldiers in separate cars.

I've seen a Black general conduct a major campaign of war.

 

I was chased out of Lincoln Park, in my hometown of Chicago, as a youth because I was Black.

I've had a street in Grant Park named for me.

 
I was sent to the back of the bus while wearing my Navy uniform. Sailors of lower rank told me to leave a train station waiting room because it was "White Only."

I personally know four "Flag" officers (Generals and Admirals).  I was recognized by the first Black commanding officer of the U.S.S. Constitution—the oldest commissioned warship in the world—at his Change of Command ceremony.

 

I watched Governor George Wallace bar Black students from the doors of the University of Alabama, saying "…segregation forever," on a black and white TV.

On a giant High Definition screen I watched a Black quarterback throw a touchdown pass to a white receiver in a game between "’Bama" and "Ole Miss."

 
I saw the funeral for Emmit Till, a Black man from Chicago, who was tortured and murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman in the South.

I've watched integrated couples stroll virtually unnoticed down the streets of Atlanta.

 

I've voted in every Presidential election since I was 21. But I had never seen a U.S. President in person, even though I’ve spoken with and even joked with the President of Sierra Leone.

A few weeks ago I sat not 75 feet from the first Black man to be elected to the Presidency of the United States of America.

 
Is it over?
 
Has racism ended?
 
Is true equality the rule in this land?
 

Hell no!

 
But, I can see the tide starting to turn, and deep in my heart I can say I am proud to be an American.




William D. Pinkney PhD (hc)

First Blackman to sail alone around the world via Cape Horn

Born Chicago, Illinois September 15, 1935

U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class 1953-1961

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