{"id":1689,"date":"2019-08-01T09:04:34","date_gmt":"2019-08-01T09:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/?page_id=1689"},"modified":"2020-07-30T21:26:44","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T21:26:44","slug":"a-phillip-randolph-and-franklin-roosevelt-on-racial-discrimination-in-the-defense-industry-1941","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/24-world-war-ii\/a-phillip-randolph-and-franklin-roosevelt-on-racial-discrimination-in-the-defense-industry-1941\/","title":{"rendered":"A Phillip Randolph and Franklin Roosevelt on Racial Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the United States prepared for war, Black labor leader A. Philip Randolph recoiled at rampant employment discrimination in the defense industry. Together with NAACP head Walter White and other leaders, Randolph planned \u201ca mass March on Washington\u201d to push for fair employment practices. President Franklin Roosevelt met with Randolph and White on June 18, and, faced with mobilized discontent and a possible disruption of wartime industries, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 on June 25. The order prohibited racial discrimination in the defense industry. Randolph and other leaders declared victory and called off the march.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. Philip Randolph\non a March on Washington (March 18, 1941)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Walter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a word of remembrance and good hope that you are\nfeeling fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I have been thinking about the Negro and national\ndefense and have come to the conclusion that something drastic has got to be\ndone to shake official Washington and the white industrialists and labor forces\nof America to the realization of the fact that Negroes mean business about\ngetting their rights as American citizens under national defense.  To this end I have decided to undertake the\norganization of a march of ten thousand Negroes or more upon Washington. When I\ncome back East I want to talk with you about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope it may be convenient for you to join with me and a\nfew other persons in the issuance of a call to the Negro people for such as march.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are able to mobilize Negros on such a program it is\ncertain to have a favorable effect upon your splendid plan to get the whole\nquestion of ntional defense and th Negro probed by the Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is my hope that we may be able to plan the march to\ntake place either before or directly after the conference of the NAACP in\nHouston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cordially yours,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. Philip Randolph<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Executive Order 8802\n(June 25, 1941)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas it is the policy of the United States to\nencourage full participation in the national defense program by all citizens of\nthe United States, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin, in the\nfirm belief that the democratic way of life within the Nation can be defended\nsuccessfully only with the help and support of all groups within its borders;\nand<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas there is evidence that available and needed\nworkers have been barred from employment in industries engaged in defense\nproduction solely because of considerations of race, creed, color, or national\norigin, to the detriment of workers’ morale and of national unity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me\nby the Constitution and the statutes, and as a prerequisite to the successful\nconduct of our national defense production effort, I do hereby reaffirm the\npolicy of the United States that there shall be no discrimination in the\nemployment of workers in defense industries or government because of race,\ncreed, color, or national origin, and I do hereby declare that it is the duty\nof employers and of labor organizations, in furtherance of said policy and of\nthis order, to provide for the full and equitable participation of all workers\nin defense industries, without discrimination because of race, creed, color, or\nnational origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: A. Philip Randolph to Walter White, March 18,\n1941. NAACP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. Available online\nvia the Library of Congress (http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/exhibits\/naacp\/world-war-ii-and-the-post-war-years.html#obj1<\/a>);\nSource: Executive Order 8802 dated June 25, 1941, General Records of the United\nStates Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. Available online via the\nNational Archives (https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/historical-docs\/todays-doc\/?dod-date=625<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the United States prepared for war, Black labor leader A. Philip Randolph recoiled at rampant employment discrimination in the defense industry. Together with NAACP head Walter White and other leaders, Randolph planned \u201ca mass March on Washington\u201d to push for fair employment practices. President Franklin Roosevelt met with Randolph and White on June 18, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":815,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1689","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1689"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1904,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1689\/revisions\/1904"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/reader\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}