All we asked for was a chance to prove ourselves. A fair and impartial opportunity. We thought we had that chance. But you invite us to a poker game, hand us a fixed deck...and then wonder why we can't win?

Every colored pilot in there went through his own private hell to wear those wings. Each of those men carry not only the dream of becoming American Military Aviators but the hopes of an entire people as well. Am I the only one here that understands what that means?

I was brought up to believe that beneath it all Americans are a decent people with an abiding sense of integrity and fair play. The cheers I heard across this country when Joe Louis and Jesse Owens humiliated Hitler's "Master Race" didn't just come from proud colored folks. They came from everyone. How are we to interpret that?

As a United States Army Officer who gladly puts his life on the line everyday there's no greater conflict within me. Not, how do I feel about my country? But how does my country...feel about me? Are we only to be Americans when the mood suits you? A fair and impartial opportunity is all we ask. Nothing that you yourselves wouldn't demand.

-- Edited Monologue of Andre Braugher as Lt. Col. Benjamin O. Davis from "The Tuskegee Airmen"