Segregated Skies

Ages 9-12

After years of flying B-52 bombers in the United States Air Force, David Harris applied to be a pilot for commercial airliners, an opportunity no other African American before him--not even the famed Tuskegee Airmen--had ever been afforded. After receiving rejection after rejection, he finally signed on with American Airlines in 1964. But this success was just the beginning of another uphill battle for equal treatment. It was the height of the civil rights movement, a time of massive protests as people struggled to end racial segregation and give black people equal rights. As a light-skinned, light-eyed black man, many at the time said David could have "passed" for white. But he didn't do that. Instead, he made the bold decision to disclose his race to his employers and fellow airmen. He thought he had experienced discrimination before. But it was about to get a whole lot worse.
This gripping narrative follows Harris's turbulent path to become the first African American commercial airline pilot in the U.S., presented against the backdrop of race riots, landmark civil rights legislation, and the lingering racial injustice of the 1960s. It's the story of a man who fought social injustice the only way he knew how-by succeeding.