The Senate on Tuesday confirmed an African American man to serve as a service chief in the US military for the first time, marking a historic moment for the armed forces, which seldom see people of color among the top brass.
Vice President Mike Pence presided over the historic 98-0 vote to confirm Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to be chief of staff of the Air Force, a vote that came against the backdrop of a nation simmering with anger and sadness over racial injustice following the death of George Floyd and other black Americans at the hands of police.
few days before his confirmation vote, Brown, who goes by C.Q., released a moving, deeply personal video, in which he said he was “full with emotion” for “the many African Americans that have suffered the same fate as George Floyd.”
“I’m thinking about a history of racial issues and my own experiences that didn’t always sing of liberty,” he said in the video that was posted on Twitter.
He outlined being one of the only African Americans at his school and often being the only African American in his platoon, and later, in leadership.
