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To Advance Their Opportunities To Advance Their Opportunities To Advance Their Opportunities Federal Policies Toward African American Workers from World War I to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Judson MacLaury Foreword by Ray Marshall Newfound Press THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE LIBRARIES, KNOXVILLE To Advance Their Opportunities: Federal Policies Toward African American Workers from World War I to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ©2008, reprinted 2014 by Judson MacLaury Digital version at www.newfoundpress.utk.edu/pubs/maclaury2 Newfound Press is a digital imprint of the University of Tennessee Libraries. Its publications are available for noncommercial and educational uses, such as research, teaching and private study. The author has licensed the work under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/>. For all other uses, contact: Newfound Press University of Tennessee Libraries 1015 Volunteer Boulevard Knoxville, TN 37996-1000 www.newfoundpress.utk.edu ISBN-13: 978-0-9846445-7-5 ISBN-10: 0-9846445-7-1 MacLaury, Judson. To advance their opportunities : federal policies toward African American workers from World War I to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 / Judson MacLaury ; foreword by Ray Marshall. Knoxville, Tenn. : Newfound Press, University of Tennessee Libraries, 2014, ©2008. 1 online resource (xx, 298 p.) Slightly edited reprint. Originally published in 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. [281]-298). 1. African Americans – Employment -- Government policy – History -- 20th century. 2. African Americans -- Employment -- Law and legislation – History -- 20th century. 3. Discrimination in employment -- Government policy -- United States – History -- 20th century. I. Title. HD8081.A65 M33 2014 Book design by Jayne Smith Cover design by Hannah Barker Contents Foreword vii Preface 2014 xv Preface 2008 xvii PART I. Crisis-Driven Federal Action from World War I through the Great Depression, 1914-1940 Chapter 1. World War I and After 3 Chapter 2. Depression and New Deal 43 PART II. Institutionalization of Executive Action, 1940-1960 Chapter 3. World War II and the FEPC 85 Chapter 4. Truman Administration, 1945-1952 105 Chapter 5. Eisenhower Administration, 1953-1960 129 PART III. Culmination of Executive Action, 1960-1964 Chapter 6. Birth of the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity 157 Chapter 7. The Committee Gets Underway 181 Chapter 8. The Kheel Reportand Beyond 199 Chapter 9. The Department of Labor in the Kennedy-Johnson Era 217 Epilogue 237 Notes 241 Bibliography 281 Foreword n To Advance Their Opportunities, Judson MacLaury, retired Department of Labor (DOL) historian, traces the evolution of Ifederal policies toward African American workers from World War I to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This is a valuable contribution to our understanding of this topic, not only because of Judson MacLaury’s knowledge of his subject, but also because this book is based on a thorough review of the relevant literature and unpublished materials at the DOL and the National Archives. MacLaury’s focus is on the federal executive, which was much more responsive to pressures from African Americans than the Congress, where a small number of segregationists could use Senate rules, especially the filibuster, to block civil rights legisla- tion. Southern segregationists were able to acquire seniority and inordinate influence in the Democratic Party because most African Americans in their regions were disenfranchised and, before FDR’s second term, most black voters and community leaders supported Republicans. African Americans’ ability to influence the federal government began to change when migration out of the rural South greatly enhanced their political power. These migrations accelerated signifi- cantly during World War I, when the cessation of mass immigration from Europe opened urban job opportunities to African Americans. FOREWORD Black political power was enhanced both by their movement to urban areas (North and South), where racial oppression was more visible, and their movement from the one-party South, where they were dis- enfranchised, to two-party areas outside the South where black vot- ers could significantly influence close elections. The urbanization of African Americans also strengthened civil rights organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Urban League (NUL), as well as unions like the influential Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP), led by A. Philip Randolph. The dramatic expansion of direct and indirect federal employ- ment during the New Deal period enabled the Roosevelt admin- istration to expand African American employment. In addition, millions of black workers participated in New Deal programs like the National Youth Administration (NYA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and public employment programs. That said, African American participation in these recovery programs was generally below their relative unemployment rate, which approached 50 per- cent, about double the overall rate. And while progress was made in reducing discrimination against black participants, unequal treat- ment characterized even the best of these programs. There was, moreover, a continuing tug-of-war between a few influential pro–civil rights New Dealers—like Interior Secretary Harold Ickes, Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, presidential adviser Harry Hopkins, and FDR’s wife Eleanor—and those who were influ- enced by militant segregationist politicians. The progressives were, however, supported by black community protests against discrimi- nation in New Deal programs and in federal employment. FDR, who had never shown much interest in race matters, had to balance appeals from the progressives and opposition from segregationists in his own party. viii FOREWORD Because FDR thought sustainable, broadly shared prosperity was not possible unless all major groups were included, his administra- tion did much to help African Americans. And, despite their con- tinuing protests against discrimination in federal employment and by government contractors, most black leaders and voters, who had previously strongly supported Herbert Hoover, made a dramatic switch to the Democratic Party and voted overwhelmingly for FDR in his reelection campaign. The depression—and most New Deal recovery programs—ended with World War II, which opened a new chapter in the march toward racial equality. Although discrimination continued, and was even sometimes acquiesced to by staunch civil rights champions like Harry Hopkins and Frances Perkins, African Americans doubled their proportion of federal jobs from 5 percent to 10 percent. Although most of these jobs were in lower pay grades, the administration also increased the number of black professionals and administrators. The tight World War II labor markets boosted the expansion of black employment, especially among defense contractors. Under intense pressure from the black community, including a threatened march on Washington, FDR issued an executive order creating the Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) to outlaw discrimina- tion by federal contractors. The proposed march on Washington, led by A. Philip Randolph, was particularly embarrassing to FDR because discrimination exposed a serious weakness in America’s fight to “make the world safe for democracy.” Indeed, the tension between tolerating discrim- ination while fighting totalitarian regimes made American leaders more likely to act on antidiscrimination pressures. As President Johnson remarked, “Race relations don’t look the same from the banks of the Potomac as they do from the banks of the Pedernales” (where his ranch was located). ix FOREWORD The experiences of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations revealed the strengths and weaknesses of executive orders and vol- untary fair employment programs. The use of executive powers enabled administrations to combat discrimination despite Con- gressional opposition. The executive orders were enforced mainly by moral suasion and the threat of contract cancellation or debarment. Presidents likewise could use their “bully pulpit” to persuade the public that discrimination was not only bad for the economy, society, and pol- ity, but also weakened America’s contest against totalitarian regimes. Voluntary antidiscrimination programs had some advantages in changing private employment practices. These programs were intro- duced not only because of inadequate support for civil rights legis- lation, but also because legal processes were more effective against specific overt discriminatory acts than against the more pervasive and entrenched institutional forms that permit discrimination to persist even after it has become illegal. One of the clearest effects of executive-order-based programs was to give those employers and unions who were inclined to adopt fair practices some protection from adverse reactions by racist customers or members. Despite these advantages, executive orders and voluntary approaches had many shortcomings: they lacked the credibility afforded by Congressional action; they were relatively ineffective against determined defenders of the status quo; government con- tracting sanctions had limited impact on unions, which were not parties to the contracts; government agencies were reluctant to can- cel contracts because they were more interested in the goods and services provided than combating discrimination;1 and administra-
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