The Washington Post chronicles the story of Colin Banks, a high school senior who dreams of going to the US Air Force Academy and becoming a fighter pilot.

While the article has the unfortunate tendency of focusing on race, Banks’ story is a good one.  He has an avid interest in all things aeronautic and has an unbelievably supportive mother.  His mother has taken him to Air Force Day at the National Air and Space Museum’s Dulles annex (a pilot heaven, and home of the space shuttle Enterprise), researched Air Force jobs, and drives him to his flight lessons.

As a result of a Tuskegee Airman program called Youth in Aviation, Banks has had $6,000 worth of flight lessons paid for, and is now looking to apply to the US Air Force Academy.

Unfortunately, the article does have some cryptically negative and inaccurate statements.  For example, it lists the following in citing impediments to reaching the “cockpit of a fighter jet” (for “blacks”):

The cost of aviation lessons, the required educational training and the lack of role models all contribute to the scarcity.

The problem with that statement is that the cost of aviation lessons is irrelevant, since neither the Air Force nor the Navy require or even suggest that any person pay for their own flight lessons.  In fact, the Air Force flight screening program, paid for by the Air Force and a requirement for all pilot candidates, results in the student receiving a private pilot’s license.  While it certainly benefits students to have prior training in any course of study, such an “advantage” should not be confused with a requirement.

The “required educational training” is the same for pilots as it is for any other military officer: a four-year bachelor’s degree.  To list it as a impediment only to becoming a fighter pilot is somewhat misleading.

The “role model” statement appears to be based on the statistical citation that only 1.9% of Air Force pilots are black, implying that only a black pilot can be a role model for an aspiring black youth (while seemingly dismissing the black pilots who can be role models).

Banks’ example undermines these negative statements; with the support of his mother and a personal drive based on his own inspiration, he appears to have done quite well.

As an avid video game-playing eighth-grader, Colin began to wonder if being a fighter pilot could be a real job. He called up the Air Force Web site to check the requirements. “That’s when I knew I wanted to do this,” he said. “I just grabbed more and more information.”

The article also quotes Nelson Evans, Chairman of the Youth in Aviation program:

“To be a Navy or Air Force pilot and be black is not easy,” said Evans, a bank manager who holds a private pilot’s license. “It’s probably easier to be in the NFL.”

Since race is irrelevant to the profession of pilot in the US military, it is unclear what Evans–who does not appear to have military experience–means by that statement.

Finally, it is regrettable that the article condescends to Banks about his opportunities, saying he faces “long odds” and the “daunting” admission process at the US Air Force Academy.  One is forced to infer that Banks may lack the academic credentials necessary for admission to the Academy.  While the realistic explanations are appreciated, it is unnecessarily condescending to talk down about Banks’ opportunities.

Colin Banks will face the same criteria for admission to his commissioning source and pilot training as any of his peers.  With his initiative, the support of his mother, and an admirable personal motivation, it seems Colin Banks will do quite well in whatever it is he chooses to do.

We wish him Godspeed in his pilot training and future endeavors.