WEBVTT - Way Black History Fact - When America Desegregated the Military

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<v Speaker 1>Right now. It signed for the way Black History Fact

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<v Speaker 1>in today's way Black History Fact is sponsored by Major

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<v Speaker 1>Threads for innovative fashionable sportswear Checkmajor threats dot com. And

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to talk about when discrimination became illegal in

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<v Speaker 1>the military. All right, This is from history dot Com.

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<v Speaker 1>One June twenty fifth, nineteen forty one. With World War

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<v Speaker 1>Two heating up in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed

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<v Speaker 1>an Executive Order eighty eight oh two prohibiting ethnic and

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<v Speaker 1>racial discrimination in the country's growing defense industry. The order,

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<v Speaker 1>issued after adamant protests by African American leaders, marked the

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<v Speaker 1>US government's first move to ban employment discrimination and promote

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<v Speaker 1>equal opportunity, and its first presidential directive on race since

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<v Speaker 1>the period of reconstruction after the Civil War. Three years

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<v Speaker 1>into the war in Europe, US factories making military aircraft, munitions, uniforms,

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<v Speaker 1>and other supplies for the Allied powers were starting to

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<v Speaker 1>lift the country out of the Great Depression. In this time,

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<v Speaker 1>segregation and harsh gym crow laws. Many of these factories

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<v Speaker 1>and defense contractors refused to hire African Americans, many of

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<v Speaker 1>whom had left the Southern States during the Great Migration

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<v Speaker 1>and headed north looking for work. Longtime civil rights activist A.

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<v Speaker 1>Philip Randolph, head of the country's largest black union, the

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<v Speaker 1>Brotherhood of Sleeping car Porters, formed a march on Washington

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<v Speaker 1>to bring thousands of African Americans to the Lincoln Memorial

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<v Speaker 1>to protest discrimination. Other African American organizations joined the effort

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<v Speaker 1>and planned to bring one hundred thousand people to the

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<v Speaker 1>march set for July first, nineteen forty one. In tense

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<v Speaker 1>efforts by the Roosevelt administration to get the leaders to

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<v Speaker 1>call off the march failed, as Randolph and other early

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<v Speaker 1>civil rights leaders stood firm in their demands that Roosevelt

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<v Speaker 1>issued an executive order to end employment discrimination in the

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<v Speaker 1>defense industry and in government. Roosevelt ultimately acquiesced and signed

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<v Speaker 1>the order a week before the march was to take place.

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<v Speaker 1>It was just five months before Japanese warplans attack Pearl

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<v Speaker 1>Harbor and the US officially entered the war. Making the

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<v Speaker 1>case to indiscrimination. The order's preamble states that, quote the

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<v Speaker 1>democrat way of life within the nation can be defended

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<v Speaker 1>successfully only with the help and support of all groups

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<v Speaker 1>within his borders unquote. The order established the fair employment

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<v Speaker 1>Practice Committee to educate the industry on anti discrimination requirements

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<v Speaker 1>and investigate the alleged violations. But Randolph and other critics

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<v Speaker 1>said its small size and budget left it in a

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<v Speaker 1>proverbial left it a proverbial sorry, left it a proverbial

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<v Speaker 1>David fighting the goliath of the massive defense contracting bureaucracy.

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<v Speaker 1>He threatened again to march on Washington to fix this.

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<v Speaker 1>In May nineteen forty three, Roosevelt strengthened the FEPC in

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<v Speaker 1>Executive Order ninety three forty six by making it more independent,

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<v Speaker 1>authorizing twelve regional offices and staff, expanding its jurisdiction to

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<v Speaker 1>all federal government departments and agencies, and requiring that all

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<v Speaker 1>government contracts have a mandatory non discrimination clause. Hundreds of

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<v Speaker 1>discrimination complaints were filed with the newly expanded agency and

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<v Speaker 1>defense industry hubs like Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and San Francisco.

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<v Speaker 1>The FEPC. He did not end racial discrimination and employment

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<v Speaker 1>during World War Two, but it opened more doors for

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<v Speaker 1>African Americans to enter occupations and industries previously close to them.

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<v Speaker 1>So I'm promising better paying jobs. After the war, it

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<v Speaker 1>doubled the number of workers in the defensive industry from

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<v Speaker 1>three to eight percent, and tripled the number of black

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<v Speaker 1>workers in the federal workforce. Despite efforts by President Harry

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<v Speaker 1>Truman and others to establish a permanent FEPC, Congress cut

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<v Speaker 1>off its funding in July nineteen forty five. The agency

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<v Speaker 1>formally dissolved in nineteen forty six. Truman ended segregation in

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<v Speaker 1>the armed forces with Executive Order ninety nine eighty one

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen forty eight. The government would move to prohibit

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<v Speaker 1>employment discrimination again years later, with the creation of the

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<v Speaker 1>Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce Title seven of the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty four Civil Rights Act. Go mob to brother

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<v Speaker 1>a Philip Randolph. I like when you talk like that,

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<v Speaker 1>I just got to shout my brothers out every time.

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<v Speaker 1>And yeah, still up here, where here, we