Florida became at least the third state to honor the Tuskegee Airmen with a state holiday when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day into law on Monday.
Meanwhile, Alabama, home to the country's first Black airmen, does not have a state holiday recognizing them.
A spokeswoman for Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey could not immediately be reached for comment.
While not an official state holiday, the governor has honored Tuskegee Airmen Day with a proclamation.
All of the nearly 1,000 Black military pilots who trained in the U.S. during World War II did so in Tuskegee. Of those, 450 were deployed overseas and 150 died, including 66 who were killed in action. There were also more than 15,000 support staff, like navigators, bombardiers and mechanics.
The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site pays homage to the storied service-members, preserving five structures used for flight training during the war.
Before DeSantis signed the Florida state holiday into law, at least two other states — Mississippi and Kentucky — had laws granting a state holiday to Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a proclamation declaring Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day, but it was unclear whether the day is an official state holiday.
The Tallahassee Democrat newspaper noted that the new Florida holiday came the year after the state rejected the AP African American Studies course and created its own version which…
