Marlon Dewitt Green (June 6, 1929 – July 6, 2009) was an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

pilot whose landmark

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

decision in 1963 helped dismantle

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their Race (human categorization), race, ancestry, ethnicity, ethnic or national origin, and/or Human skin color, skin color and Hair, hair texture. Individuals ...

in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

passenger airline industry. The decision led to David E. Harris's hiring as the first African-American pilot for a major airline the following year. Green was subsequently hired by

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...

, for whom he flew from 1965 to 1978.

Biography

Marlon Green is born in

El Dorado, Arkansas El Dorado ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Arkansas, Union County, on the southern border of Arkansas, United States. According to the 2020 census, the population of the city is 17,755. El Dorado is headquarters of the Ark ...

. His father, Mckinley Green, was born in 1900, and married Green's mother, Lucy, on April 10, 1921. In 1936 or 1937, the family moved to

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

, where he found work at the Drop Forge Company. He later joined the household staff of dentist J. Shelton Rushing as what his son called the

major domo A majordomo () is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a larg ...

.Whitlock Green converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the 11th grade and attended

Xavier University Preparatory School Xavier University Preparatory School was a private, Catholic high school in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament founded, owned and operated the school, having opened it in 1915 as what would eventually become Xavier Uni ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

before studying to become a priest with the Josephites at

Epiphany Apostolic College Epiphany Apostolic College, formerly known as the Josephite Collegiate Seminary, was a Catholic minor seminary founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 1889. History The seminary was founded in 1889 by Fr John R. Slattery of the Mill Hill Missionari ...

. He was eventually dismissed. Marlon Green joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, where his last posting was flying the

SA-16 Albatross The Grumman HU-16 Albatross is a large, twin-radial engined amphibious aircraft, amphibious flying boat that was used by the United States Air Force (USAF), the U.S. Navy (USN), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the Royal Canadian Air Force primar ...

with the 36th Air Rescue Squadron at

Johnson Air Base is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) base located in the city of Sayama, Saitama, Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, north of western Tokyo, Japan. It was the airfield for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Academy until 1945, when it became Joh ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan. While on leave in 1957, he applied for a pilot position with

, and was invited to be interviewed after having left blank the racial-identity question on the application. He also omitted pasting into the small square block provided in the upper right hand corner of the first page of the application, a picture of himself, Five other white applicants, less qualified, were hired. Per varying sources, he either was rejected then, or was hired as what would have been the nation's first African-American pilot for a major commercial airline, but was rejected after reporting for orientation. On April 22, 1963, following oral arguments on March 28, 1963, the

ruled in "Colorado Anti-Discrimination Commission v. Continental Airlines, Inc. 372 U.S. 714 no. 146" that Green had been unlawfully discriminated against. In 1964,

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

hired David E. Harris as the first African-American pilot for major US passenger airline. Following his Supreme Court victory, Green flew for Continental from 1965 to 1978, initially piloting

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. T ...

s out of Denver. He became a captain in 1966. Green died aged 80 in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Personal life

He was divorced at the time of his death and was survived by his six children, one of whom is the historian

Monica Green Monica Green (born 1959) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician who was a member of the Riksdag from 1994 to 2018. A controversial thought that she has expressed is that incest between adults should be legalised.Green, Monica -politiker: G� ...

Legacy

On February 16,