Powerful dramatic recreations and archival photography tell this story of Lt. Henry Flipper, the first black graduate from West Point Military Academy. Shortly after his first assignment, Flipper fell victim to racial prejudice; he was dishonorably discharged from the Army after being framed on a trumped-up charge of embezzlement. General Colin Powell introduces this tribute to Lt. Flipper and his triumphant struggle to vindicate his name.
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As the first black man to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy, Henry Ossian Flipper faced institutional racism on a daily basis, but once he was assigned as an officer to the 10th Cavalry, a regiment of the legendary "Buffalo Soldiers" of the Old West, he thought he could happily live his lifelong dream of being an Army officer. But in this innovative video, which is based on a one-man, one-act play, the viewer meets an elderly Henry Flipper, who recounts the story of how his military career came to a tragic end when he was falsely accused of embezzlement and was court-martialed at a frontier military post. As portrayed by actor George Robert Snead, Flipper is unbowed as he relates his fate and tells the story of how racial prejudice probably doomed his military career. Interwoven with this engaging dramatic presentation is historical narration, provided by actor Ossie Davis, that fills in the details of Flipper's unfortunate career. The video, which begins with an introduction by General Colin Powell and ends with the account of how Flipper's name was eventually cleared 40 years after his death, is both entertaining and enlightening, an evocative look at a little-known yet resonant episode in American history. --Robert J. McNamara
