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Black history banquet celebrates diversity
Little things can have a long-lasting legacy, Col. Michael Hoyes told the crowd at the 18th annual Black History Banquet in Mountain Home last Friday.
Hoyes, now the USAF chief of scheduling for special events, out of Langley AFB, Va., was a young lieutenant when he was stationed at Mountain Home AFB flying F-111s. Two of his service mentors at that time, Mayor Joe B. McNeal and Bill Hamilton, earned his praise for helping him on his successful career.
In a wide-ranging speech that covered a variety of topics, Hoyes discussed the role of African-Americans in the military, the impact of Dr. Martin Luther King on the world, and how little things can make a big difference.
The boosters for the space shuttle, he noted, for instance, were built to dimensions based on the rear ends of horses. The boosters are sent to Cape Canaveral by rail and must often pass through tunnels that are based on the width of the rails. Railroad "gauges," the width of the tracks, were first determined in England, based on road dimensions used for wagons, which themselves were based on the width of the ruts in the roads made by Roman chariots, whose width was determined by the two horses that pulled the chariots.
Hoyes said he sees America not so much as a melting pot, a stew mushed together, as a salad. Each race, each culture is the lettuce, the tomatoes, the olives. Each stands alone, "but they all come together to make a great salad.
"We value the differences, and that's what this African-American celebration (Black History Month) is all about, the celebration of differences," he said.
Hoyes, a graduate of the Air Force Academy, noted that he is one of only 16 command pilot/navigators in the Air Force, out of more than 52,000 officers. "Frankly," he said, "I would have thought that number would be higher."
"Nearly 37 years since Dr. King was killed, and 50 years since the creation of the United States Air Force, I myself have been spiritually crushed by things that have happened to me," forms of subtle discrimination still faced by African Americans, he said. He noted, for example, that when he attended the Air Force Academy, he signed up for racquetball, handball and squash, but was assigned to the boxing team, "because I was told, black guys box."
He cited several other instances of discrimination he and his family had faced, and told the story of being stationed at Lakenheath RAF in 1982, when "a staff sergeant actually ran across the street to salute me, because he said he'd never seen a black aviator."
In the Air Force today, he said, the number of African-Americans holding command positions of colonel or above, is still well below the average for blacks in the general population.
What is needed, he said, is an improved and expanded mentor program, that will help support minorities seeking to achieve the highest levels of success.
Referring to the famous Tuskegee Airmen, who "fought two wars, one in the air against the enemy air force, and one on the ground at home," he noted that the group's 332nd Fighter Group has "the most outstanding combat record to date," of any fighter group.
"They demonstrated that the antidote to racism is excellence," he said.
He noted that the 1951 Brown v. the Board of Education ruling, the ended segregated schools, had made a major impact. "Prior to that, segregated schools prepared black children for the segregation they would face in society."
But at the same time, his parents encouraged him to seek his own destiny, to fulfill his dreams. "They treated me as a child of God, and a member of the human race," not as a black child who should accept the limits imposed by racial discrimination.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., also had a huge impact on the changing attitudes of the nation and the improving opportunities for minorities, he said, noting that his impact was not just on America, but globally.
"He said that injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere," Hoyes said, and that America must seek a method for rejecting racism. "The foundation of that method is love," he said.
We must ask ourselves, he said, "how can we as a nation take up the challenge of freedom in the Mideast, yet have a system of bondage in the United States?"
The fight for freedom, he said, is part of what he does as a member of the American military. Holding up a small piece of concrete, he noted, "this is a piece of the Berlin Wall. It reminds me why I am a soldier. I serve, and continue to serve, in the greatest military force in the world, and I can take some small responsibility" for bringing down the wall and extending freedom to eastern Europe.
Great strides have been made, he indicated, "but our challenge now is not to get complacent.
"Do something for the next generation," to make their lives even better, so that all can reach their full potential, he urged those at the banquet.
"I look to our Air Force core values: Integrity first; Service before self; and, Excellence in all we do.
"I am an American, and a soldier," he said with pride, earning a standing ovation for his speech.
Mayor McNeal then presented Hoyes with the key to the city, and several items of memorabilia to remember his trip to Idaho.
The banquet also featured the reading of a proclamation by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne making February Black History Month in Idaho.
This year's theme of the banquet was "Living Together is an Art."
Among the highlights of the banquet was the presentation of the Mountain Home Black History Committee's Person of the Year Award, which went to Henry Toy, a retired Chief Master Sergeant who has been active on a number of community boards and projects.
"I want to say thanks to Mountain Home -- across the board," Toy said. "We came here in 1981, and we have appreciated all the support we have received.
"Anything to help humanity, that's what Henry Toy is about," he said.
The Thurgood Marshall Award for service to the community was presented to Judy Gulley. The Martin Luther King ward for service to the committee was given to Wal-Mart.
Winners of the annual poster and essay contest also were announced.
The essay contest was won by Moelle Whitted. Second place went to Deion Brown and third to Courtneigh Owens.
The poster contest was won by Danille Towns, with second place awarded to Danille Taylor and third to Sara Laramine.
Col. Lemmon, representing Mountain Home AFB, also offered some remarks, praising Hoyes for his "fantastic speech," and noting "we're both second-class citizens as navigators."
And, he noted, "we've come so far since when I was born in 1954, but we are nowhere near being finished," in the fight for full equality.
Maj. Gen. Lefrenze, adjutant general of the Idaho National Guard, also offered some comments during the evening.
Noting the strong support of this community, and throughout Idaho, for the Guard's 116th Brigade Combat Team deployed in Iraq, Lefrenze said, "you are all my heroes. You enhance the National Guard" with your support.
He gave a brief report on the status of the Guardsmen, saying "they are doing well," and had recently discovered a large cache of weapons that could have supported more than 200 insurgents.
He said the 116th had so far been relatively free of casualties. One soldier has lost his leg in combat and another has been severely wounded, but overall casualties have been light so far.
"They send their best," he said, and "they thank each and every one of you for the support they have received. They feel it and appreciate it. God bless you all."
In her remarks concluding the banquet, committee chairwoman Mildred McNeal asked for a special blessing for those serving overseas, and noted that while the Iraqis may not yet fully understand what freedom is, once they get it "they will never give it up."