Posted on Jun 25, 2020
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum - Our Documents
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On June 25, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 which forbid racial discrimination in the defense industry and the Federal government. From the article:
"Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
"... I do hereby reaffirm the policy of the United States that there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin..."
Our Documents: Executive Order 8802 - Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry
June 25, 1941
As the nation prepared for war, African American leaders hoped that the rapidly growing defense industry would provide new opportunities for blacks. In September 1940, A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, met with President Roosevelt and urged the President to promote equal employment opportunities and to desegregate the armed forces. Although Randolph left the meeting with assurances that President Roosevelt was looking into the matter, no agreement was made. Having failed to secure the support of the Roosevelt administration, Randolph hoped to bring his cause to the American people. For months he planned a march on Washington and gathered the support of tens of thousands of African Americans. Worried about the impact of the march, Franklin Roosevelt met with Randolph two weeks before the march was scheduled to begin and urged him to call off the march. The only way he would stop the march, A. Philip Randolph told FDR, was if President Roosevelt issued an Executive Order. On June 25, 1941 President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 prohibiting discrimination in the defense industry and created the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to monitor hiring practices. Although the military remained segregated, World War II brought about new jobs and opportunities for African Americans."
"Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
"... I do hereby reaffirm the policy of the United States that there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin..."
Our Documents: Executive Order 8802 - Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry
June 25, 1941
As the nation prepared for war, African American leaders hoped that the rapidly growing defense industry would provide new opportunities for blacks. In September 1940, A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, met with President Roosevelt and urged the President to promote equal employment opportunities and to desegregate the armed forces. Although Randolph left the meeting with assurances that President Roosevelt was looking into the matter, no agreement was made. Having failed to secure the support of the Roosevelt administration, Randolph hoped to bring his cause to the American people. For months he planned a march on Washington and gathered the support of tens of thousands of African Americans. Worried about the impact of the march, Franklin Roosevelt met with Randolph two weeks before the march was scheduled to begin and urged him to call off the march. The only way he would stop the march, A. Philip Randolph told FDR, was if President Roosevelt issued an Executive Order. On June 25, 1941 President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 prohibiting discrimination in the defense industry and created the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to monitor hiring practices. Although the military remained segregated, World War II brought about new jobs and opportunities for African Americans."
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum - Our Documents
Posted from docs.fdrlibrary.marist.eduPosted in these groups: 
Office of the President (POTUS)
Orders
American History
Military History
Military Industry
Office of the President (POTUS) Orders American History Military History Military Industry
Posted >1 y ago
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SGT (Join to see) It was a step in the right direction, but not much more has happened in the last decade.
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SPC Steven Nihipali
I would disagree... blacks are now hired and promoted at a faster rate in all govt jobs. Maybe not so in civilian
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Yet FDR found it acceptable to lock up an entire race of people because of their ethnic heritage. They need to get that racist's likeness off of our dimes.
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PO3 Donald Murphy
SGT Robert Pryor - Your country has just been attacked by the Japanese.
You have your entire Pacific fleet on the bottom of the ocean. You have 3000+ dead.
That is all that you really know using the technology of the day. Two or three Japanese-looking spies are caught and you are notified of this. Several Japanese spies are noticed around USA West coast ports/bases. These will later turn out to be innocent, but not with the media/technology of the day. It will take months to clear the people arrested near San Francisco and Washington state ports. Again - not racism. Technology of the day. Additionally, you have an actual German-trained operative cell in the USA East coast that the British inform you of. You will never find out it's origin as you die in office in 1945. But your vice president will be told later during the Cold War how it came to be. So here is your 1942 dilemma.
1. Norwegian citizens planted by the Germans helped the Germans take Norway
2. Belgian citizens planted by the Germans helped the Germans take Belgium
3. Dutch citizens planted by the Germans helped the Germans take Holland
4. Danish citizens planted by the Germans helped the Germans take Denmark
You have a population of citizens of Japanese, German and Italian heritage. Again, you are using the evidence and experience of the day to make your decision. If you feel that your decision has to be race motivated, then that's something you're going to have to dig for based on the information of the day. Also note again, that FDR and myself are both white. So action against German-Americans and Italian-Americans could not possibly be racist unless you're claiming FDR and myself are not white.
Now its quite possible that you could take no action at all. But remember that you are running for reelection and the republican ticket under Wendel Wilkie is not only accusing you of orchestrating the attack, but of doing nothing about it.
You have your entire Pacific fleet on the bottom of the ocean. You have 3000+ dead.
That is all that you really know using the technology of the day. Two or three Japanese-looking spies are caught and you are notified of this. Several Japanese spies are noticed around USA West coast ports/bases. These will later turn out to be innocent, but not with the media/technology of the day. It will take months to clear the people arrested near San Francisco and Washington state ports. Again - not racism. Technology of the day. Additionally, you have an actual German-trained operative cell in the USA East coast that the British inform you of. You will never find out it's origin as you die in office in 1945. But your vice president will be told later during the Cold War how it came to be. So here is your 1942 dilemma.
1. Norwegian citizens planted by the Germans helped the Germans take Norway
2. Belgian citizens planted by the Germans helped the Germans take Belgium
3. Dutch citizens planted by the Germans helped the Germans take Holland
4. Danish citizens planted by the Germans helped the Germans take Denmark
You have a population of citizens of Japanese, German and Italian heritage. Again, you are using the evidence and experience of the day to make your decision. If you feel that your decision has to be race motivated, then that's something you're going to have to dig for based on the information of the day. Also note again, that FDR and myself are both white. So action against German-Americans and Italian-Americans could not possibly be racist unless you're claiming FDR and myself are not white.
Now its quite possible that you could take no action at all. But remember that you are running for reelection and the republican ticket under Wendel Wilkie is not only accusing you of orchestrating the attack, but of doing nothing about it.
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SGT Robert Pryor
PO3 Donald Murphy - There is no justification for racism -- and most of all against our own citizens. If the POTUS is too stupid to realized that, or know how to deal with the aggression of a foreign power, he needs to get the hell out of the way and let someone more intelligent take the helm. Johnson knew he screwed the pooch when it came to the Vietnam War and he got the hell out of the way in 1968, leaving it up to Humphrey or Nixon to deal with the problem. Not one word you have written, nor anything I have ever read or heard in my lifetime, is justification for racism, much less suspending the basic human rights mandated by our Constitution. On the US citizenship test for those hoping to become naturalized US citizens is a simple question with a one word answer. It has been decades since I took the test for giggles and grins, so I can't quote it exactly. But is was something to the effect 'To whom does the US Constitution apply?' I correctly responded, "Everybody." Yeah, well, except in the eyes of Kommissar Roosevelt.
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PO3 Donald Murphy
SGT Robert Pryor - America won the war. So FDR's stupid actions and gambles paid off. So obviously the democrat party was the most intelligent political option for the time. Until the event is over it can't be discussed and debated. Arm-chair quarterbacking they call it.
That's cool that you felt that way about racism all your life. Unfortunately, until the majority do, it's not racism. Its just a lone voice yelling in the wind. Keep in mind that Britain declared slavery (wrong) many decades before the USA did. And even tho Lincoln "free'd the slaves", it would be another 100 years before they would have equality. So hats off to you for being a trailblazer in your time.
That's cool that you felt that way about racism all your life. Unfortunately, until the majority do, it's not racism. Its just a lone voice yelling in the wind. Keep in mind that Britain declared slavery (wrong) many decades before the USA did. And even tho Lincoln "free'd the slaves", it would be another 100 years before they would have equality. So hats off to you for being a trailblazer in your time.
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SGT Robert Pryor
PO3 Donald Murphy - Monday Morning quarterbacking would be to say a different strategy would have won the war in less time or with fewer US casualties. I'm not saying that at all. Trying to justify racism in any way is always wrong. The end does not justify the means -- as Americans we are supposed to be above that. This country is NOT a democracy, so how the majority felt then or now is irrelevant. We are a Constitutional Republic and that Constitution is what FDR chose to ignore when he placed US citizens in concentration camps because of their Japanese heritage. And don't think for a moment that I ever thought slavery was a good idea or even acceptable under the circumstances -- it is absolutely repugnant to me and was also a failed economic system on top of everything else. What we have done, and continue to do, to Native Americans is also total BS. To point out the failings of majority rule, take a look at the 2008 California Proposition 8 vote. The majority of voters in that blue state approved an amendment to their state Constitution to Eliminate Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. In June of 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down Defense Of Marriage Act for violating the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution in the landmark civil rights case of United States v. Windsor, leading to federal recognition of same-sex marriage. The DOMA was another case of the majority opposing equal rights to a minority -- more BS just like FDR's War Relocation Authority aimed at very small minority of US citizens. When I wore my country's uniform, I did so for all Americans -- not just the majority -- regardless of their heritage or sexual orientation.
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