RAFs Mildenhall, Lakenheath celebrate multiculturalism for Black History Month Luncheon Feb. 13

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Clark Staehle
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, U.K, --  Retired Lt. Gen. John Hopper Jr. spoke at the Black Heritage Month Luncheon at RAF Mildenhall Feb 13.

The event, which was open to Airmen from RAFs Mildenhall and Lakenheath, included such guests as Maj. Gen. Jack Egginton, 3rd Air Force vice commander; Col. Eden Murrie, 100th Air Refueling Wing commander; and Col. Mark Nowland, 48th Fighter Wing vice commander.

Colonel Nowland gave the ceremony's opening remarks, giving a brief introduction to Black History Month and introducing General Hopper, a former vice commander of Air Education and Training Command and former Air Force Academy commandant of cadets.

In keeping with this year's theme of multiculturalism, General Hopper spoke of its importance and explained where black Americans got their roots and how as a culture in America, they have thrived despite a turbulent past.

"I think it's necessary to know that at various times in the history of Africa, there have been large migrations of Africans to the four corners of the world," General Hopper said.

He explained that the migration of Africans throughout the world has helped to enrich its heritage and multiculturalism, as well as infusing other cultures and societies with their history.

"As you look forward in time, voluntary African immigrants have been a factor in many countries and cultures, including France, the United Kingdom and of course, the United States," the general said. "The forced migration of Africans in the slave trade is what really sets the tone for the Americas."

The slave trade funneled millions of African natives into the New World, which would later become North and South America.

"The interesting thing to me is that these Africans may have been from different tribes and enslaved by Africans and other people of color," General Hopper said. "To arrive in the Americas and set the foundation of the culture that would be distinctly African and distinctly American."

The ensuing slavery culture in America helped further mold and shape its multiculturalism. Slaves were subjected to "the harshest and most brutal working conditions you can imagine," according to the general.

"Is it any wonder then that they should cling to their African roots or develop an American aspect to their culture, shaped by the human condition they faced every day?" he asked.

In 1861, civil war erupted in America and soon after, in 1863, slavery was abolished with the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation. Though it granted all slaves freedom, it didn't solve the plight of Africans in America.

After the Reconstruction era ended in 1877, "various states passed laws designed to continue the old pattern of exclusion," General Hopper said. "These laws, called Jim Crow Laws, winked at oppression while professing to create black and white Americas that were separate and certainly not equal. The foundation of these Jim Crow Laws was to make segregation the law of the land by mandating separate facilities for school, public buildings and public transportation."

The laws also precluded interracial marriages and even black baseball teams from playing too close to white neighborhoods and vice versa. It was well into the 20th century before states began to repeal those laws.

After 1910, many blacks followed jobs out of the rural South, where many of them had stayed after the Civil War.

During that time Americans began to see and hear what a blend of African and American cultures might look like, General Hopper said. Bringing black culture to the forefront led to such cultural movements as jazz and the Harlem Renaissance.

The era was punctuated by such well-known artists as Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Black culture began to further manifest itself in other facets of America's popular culture.

"Dr. W.E.B. DuBois was working with white Americans to establish the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to advocate for the rights of African Americans," General Hopper said. "The reason we're here today - in 1926, Dr. Carter Woodson was proposing 'Negro History Week' to educate everyone on the contributions of African Americans to America's multicultural society."

General Hopper closed his speech by saying that America's multicultural society further manifests itself in this year's presidential race, where two contenders for the Democratic nomination, Sen.s Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton, are from minority groups.

"So multiculturalism, it looks like, has finally taken hold in the United States of America," he said. "I remember years and years ago, the measures of potential for a young person was always 'you could grow up to be president.' It looks like for the entire population of American now, that's truer now than it's ever been."