Franklin D. Roosevelt

On June 25, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802. The order banned discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities in the government and defense industries. The order resulted in part from pressure placed on Roosevelt by the African American labor leader A. Philip Randolph. Earlier in 1941 Randolph had announced plans for a mass demonstration in the nation’s capital to demand fair employment opportunities in defense industries and the desegregation of the armed forces. President Roosevelt was the target of this protest. Although he had won overwhelming black support, Roosevelt was reluctant to take action against racial discrimination because he feared antagonizing southern Democrats who controlled key congressional committees.

March on Washington Movement committees sprang up in major cities across the United States and began recruiting delegations to send to the capital. The prospect of thousands of militant blacks marching on Washington, D.C., troubled the White House, but Randolph did not back down. He told the president that only an executive order banning discrimination in the government and defense industries would satisfy his demands. Roosevelt capitulated and issued Executive Order 8802 six days before the scheduled date for the march. Although the order did not extend to the armed forces, it satisfied Randolph, who called off the planned march.

Roosevelt’s order was the first significant presidential action on behalf of African American civil rights since Reconstruction. Although the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) it created did not fully live up to its promise, it was an opening wedge in the battle against Jim Crow laws. Roosevelt’s action established a precedent that other chief executives would follow. African American leaders learned that organized mass action was a powerful weapon in their quest for full civil rights.

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