Liberty Ships, Closed Doors · Episode 4 of 13 · 35 min
Executive Order 8802: How Randolph Forced FDR to Open the Door
With defense plants booming and still refusing Black workers, labor leader A. Philip Randolph threatened a march on Washington in 1941. A week before it, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, the first federal ban on employment discrimination since Reconstruction, and Randolph called off the march. The committee created to enforce it had almost no power, and Congress ended it in 1946.
Who's who
- A. Philip RandolphPorters union head who organized the threatened march
- Franklin D. Roosevelt+28 more episodesPresident who signed Executive Order 8802 to forestall the march
Where it happens
- Washington, D.C.+31 more episodesPlanned destination of the 1941 march
Timeline
- Spring 1941March planned for July 1 with tens of thousands projected
- June 25, 1941Executive Order 8802 signed; march called off
- May 27, 1943Executive Order 9346 strengthens the Fair Employment Practice Committee
- 1946Congress cuts the committee's funding
- 1964-1965Civil Rights Act and EEOC bring the enforcement the order lacked
Still debated
Historians differ on how much the committee accomplished, which was meaningful in some industries and cities and negligible in others. Roosevelt's motive is read as a pragmatic response to pressure, and projected march turnout was never a headcount.
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