Executive Order 8802

Executive Order 8802 was the first federal action, though not a law, to promote equal opportunity and prohibit employment discrimination in the United States.

[2] The President's statement that accompanied the order cited the war effort, saying that "the democratic way of life within the nation can be defended successfully only with the help and support of all groups," and cited reports of discrimination:[3] There is evidence available that needed workers have been barred from industries engaged in defense production solely because of considerations of race, creed, color or national origin, to the detriment of workers' morale and of national unity.The order was issued in response to pressure from civil rights and labor activists A. Philip Randolph, Walter White and others involved in the March on Washington Movement, who had planned a march on Washington, D.C., on July 1, 1941, to protest racial discrimination in industry and the military.

Now, Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, and as a prerequisite to the successful conduct of our national defense production effort, 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, and I do hereby declare that it is the duty of employers and of labor organizations, in furtherance of said policy and of this Order, to provide for the full and equitable participation of all workers in defense industries, without discrimination because of race, creed, color, or national origin;At the time that the order was issued, the US had yet to officially enter World War II, and it would not until after the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

In a 1940 issue of The Pittsburgh Courier – a newspaper that would later be intimately involved in the Double V campaign – Randolph demanded the right for Black Americans “to work and fight for [their] country”.

The first objective of the movement was to bring 10,000 Black Americans to gather at the Lincoln Memorial to protest racial discrimination in the military and defense industries.

[7] Other members of the Roosevelt administration urged defense industry factories to stop discrimination against Black workers, but Randolph stated that he would only call off the march if an executive order was issued.

[9] The order established the President's Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) within the Office of Production Management, which was to centralize government contracting in the defense buildup before the United States entered World War II.

The FEPC was to educate industry as to anti-discrimination requirements, investigate alleged violations, and "take appropriate steps to redress grievances which it finds to be valid."

In May 1943, Executive Order 9346 was issued, expanding the coverage of the FEPC to federal agencies carrying out regular government programs and returning it to independent status.

Years later congressional passage of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Executive Order 11246 in 1965 prohibited discrimination in employment and public facilities.

[17][16] Second generation Mexican Americans had a reputation for being more vocal in addressing workplace grievances and were more receptive to unionization as a solution for widespread discrimination.