Executive Order 8802: Banning Discrimination in Government and Defense Industries

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Executive Order 8802: BanningDiscrimination in Government andDefense Industries
Overview
Abstract

In 1941 the African American labor leader A. Philip Randolph 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 Franklin D. 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.

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