““But by leapfrogging the United States into space, the Russians turned even local racial policy into fodder for the international conflict. In forcing the United States to compete for the allegiance of the yellow and brown and black countries throwing off the shackles of colonialism, the Soviets influenced something more closer to Earth, and ultimately more difficult than putting a satellite, or even a human, into space: weakening Jim Crow's grip on America.””
![“Our attainments [in space] are a major element in the competition between the Soviet system and our own . . . . in this sense, [they] are part of the battle along the fluid front of the cold war.” quote by James E. Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c5f/james-e-webb-81975_attainment_our-attainments-in-space-are-a-major-ele_2977764.jpg)
