THE WRONG STUFF: The Ed Dwight Story: John F. Kennedy’s Crusade to Find and Promote a “Negro Astronaut”.

The Kennedy Administration found their magic flying negro: the only problem was Dwight couldn’t pass the requirements to be an astronaut. From Phelps’s book, we learn Colonel Chuck Yeager was the one man who dared judge Ed Dwight by the content of his character instead of giving him an immediate, Kennedy Administration approved pass because of the advantageous color of his skin:

Meanwhile, Colonel Yeager’s dim view of Dwight’s abilities grew. Yeager later maintained that Dwight’s abilities were so lacking “we set up a special tutoring program to get him through the academics, as I recall, he lacked the engineering [background] that the other students had.”

Yeager further observes that Dwight worked hard, as did his tutors, but adds that “Dwight just couldn’t hack it… didn’t keep up in flying.” Yeager claims to have worked with Dwight on his flying, but he noted that “our students were flying at levels really beyond his experience. The only prejudice against Dwight,” Yeager recalls, wagging a literary finger,” was the conviction that he was not qualified to be in the school” in the first place. (p. 20)

For his trouble in not placing Dwight high enough in the training program, Yeager was called before multiple Civil Rights inquiries, who hounded him with a tenacity not seen until Eric “My People” Holder’s Department of Justice got a hold of George Zimmerman.

This isn’t a joke.

This happened.

One of the commenters has a good idea for the movie version.