WEBVTT 00:01.766 --> 00:05.566 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Most histories about the Civil Rights Movement focus on marches and sit ins. 00:05.566 --> 00:10.566 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% But there is a crucial racial justice battleground often overlooked, 00:11.400 --> 00:14.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and it unfolded in the sky. 00:14.000 --> 00:17.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% The South, it was open, clear. 00:17.500 --> 00:19.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% That white people had this advantage, 00:19.366 --> 00:21.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Black people had no advantage. 00:21.800 --> 00:22.833 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% I'm in New York. 00:22.833 --> 00:25.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% It's not as vivid. 00:25.800 --> 00:29.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And then when the airline situation occurred, it just opened my eyes totally. 00:29.766 --> 00:32.133 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Yes, it exists here. 00:32.133 --> 00:33.400 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% It exists. 00:35.200 --> 00:38.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% The struggle for equal opportunity in the airline industry was turbulent. 00:38.833 --> 00:43.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But, one woman's challenge opened the doors for change. 00:49.233 --> 00:52.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The one thing that has to be clear, 00:52.300 --> 00:55.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% discrimination is a very difficult 00:55.866 --> 00:58.033 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% thing to prove. 00:59.700 --> 01:03.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% When Pat Banks graduated from Grace Downs Air Career School in 1956, 01:04.566 --> 01:08.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% she expected to be hired as a flight attendant. 01:08.433 --> 01:13.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Despite her impeccable credentials, Pat did not receive a single offer. 01:14.333 --> 01:16.533 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% I was determined 01:18.200 --> 01:21.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% that somebody of African American heritage was going to get this job. 01:23.300 --> 01:27.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Pat sued Capital Airlines for their racially discriminatory hiring practices. 01:29.933 --> 01:32.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Finally, in 1960, 01:32.466 --> 01:37.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% after nearly four years, she won her case. 01:37.033 --> 01:40.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I wouldn't do anything that may have led to a mistake. 01:40.733 --> 01:44.133 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% I had to be this perfect human being. 01:44.133 --> 01:47.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And the only way I could do that was to do my job 01:47.900 --> 01:51.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and prove that this job could be done and accomplished 01:51.766 --> 01:54.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% by an African American woman. 01:56.966 --> 01:59.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Pat opened the doors. 01:59.200 --> 02:01.466 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% But the doors weren't kicked open; 02:01.466 --> 02:02.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% they were cracked. 02:04.133 --> 02:06.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The first Black flight attendant for Delta was hired in '66 02:07.666 --> 02:09.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and then I was hired in 1971. 02:09.933 --> 02:13.366 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% Nearly a decade after Pat won her case. 02:14.233 --> 02:16.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% By the start of the 1970s, 02:16.466 --> 02:19.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% there were about 1,000 Black women employed 02:19.700 --> 02:22.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% across all of the airlines. 02:23.433 --> 02:26.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% At the time, this accounted for only 3% 02:26.333 --> 02:30.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of the total number of flight attendants in the country. 02:31.533 --> 02:34.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% When I went in to National Airlines for the interview, 02:34.666 --> 02:39.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I never considered my skin tone as a problem. 02:40.966 --> 02:44.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Just being able to communicate with individuals, 02:46.266 --> 02:49.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% customer service, that's what I thought it was all about. 02:49.700 --> 02:53.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I didn't think of color at all. 02:54.400 --> 02:56.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Once I completed the training, 02:56.200 --> 03:01.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% I realized that the company, National Airlines, did not want me. 03:02.133 --> 03:04.900 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% When I would see certain captains, 03:06.233 --> 03:08.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I knew scheduling was going to pull me off the flight 03:08.766 --> 03:10.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% because they refused to fly with me. 03:12.533 --> 03:15.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Passengers would not make eye contact. 03:15.366 --> 03:18.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% If you asked if they wanted something to drink, they would not talk to you. 03:18.733 --> 03:22.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% But then when the white stewardess came along, they would beckon for them to come. 03:22.933 --> 03:25.166 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% So you understood that. 03:25.166 --> 03:28.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% This is when you talk to the other stewardesses, 03:28.533 --> 03:30.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and we started comparing notes. 03:32.766 --> 03:37.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In 1973, Undra Mays joined the union that represented flight attendants. 03:39.500 --> 03:42.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% If someone of color had a problem, 03:43.833 --> 03:45.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I would be the one there. 03:45.533 --> 03:49.866 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% I would be the one there to quote policy and procedure to the company 03:49.866 --> 03:53.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and tell them what we will and will not accept or do. 03:54.500 --> 03:58.766 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% Mays worked as a flight attendant for 50 years. 03:58.766 --> 04:03.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Casey Grant worked for Delta Airlines for 35 years. 04:04.800 --> 04:06.400 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% I never became discouraged by racism. 04:06.400 --> 04:09.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I knew that I could do the job better than 04:09.100 --> 04:12.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% half of the girls I was flying with because I tried harder. 04:12.433 --> 04:15.600 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% I knew the world was not all bad. 04:15.600 --> 04:19.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I never became discouraged because no one was going to take this opportunity from me. 04:21.500 --> 04:25.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Pat Banks was inducted into the Black Aviation Hall of Fame in 2010. 04:27.266 --> 04:31.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I think that most of the heroes in aviation, 04:31.000 --> 04:35.366 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% the common thread for all those people that have opened the doors, 04:35.366 --> 04:40.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% was being determined and never taking no for an answer. 04:40.100 --> 04:42.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% When you want something, you fight for it.