7.+A.+Phillip+Randolph+and+his+agreement+with+Roosevelt

Alison Shoemaker Block 2 October 21, 2008 As the nation prepared for war, African American leaders hoped that the rapidly growing defense industry would provide new opportunities for blacks to help fight for our nation (Our 1). A. Phillip Randolph was the president and founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and the nation’s most respected African American labor leader (Americans 566). The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters is considered to be the first serious step to unionizing the Pullman Company, which was the most powerful business organization in the country and it brutally resisted efforts to unionize (Butler 2). The Brotherhood had many setbacks, but they prevailed (Butler 2). In September 1940, Randolph met with President Roosevelt and urged the President to promote equal employment opportunities for blacks and whites, and to have the armed forces desegregated (Our 1). Although Randolph left the meeting without assurances that Roosevelt would look into the matter, they did not make an agreement; having failed to secure the support of the President’s administration, Randolph decided to bring his cause to the people of America (Our 1). He decided to organize a march of 100,000 African Americans to Washington, on July 1, 1941, to march under the banner “We Loyal Colored Americans Demand the Right to Work and Fight for our Country” (Americans 566). Worried about the impact of the march, Randolph and Roosevelt met up two weeks before the scheduled march and urged Randolph to call it off; Randolph said the only way to stop the march was to issue an Executive order (Our 1). In the end, Roosevelt back down and issued Order 8802 to provide for the full and equitable participation of all workers in defense industries, without discrimination of race, creed, color, or national origin” (Americans 566).

Butler, Dominique. "The Asa Phillip Randolph Story." __Home Page of Dobbins/Randolph AVTS__. 21 Oct 2008 < http://www.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/randolph/homepage.html#BI >. Fried, Ellen. "From Pearl Harbor to Elvis: Images That Endure." __Prologue Magazine__. 2004. The National Archives. 21 Oct 2008 < http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/winter/images/march-on-washington.jpg >. Danzer, Jarold A., J. Jorge Klor de Alva, Larry S. Krieger, Louis E. Wilson, and Nancy Woloch. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005. "Our Documents: Executive Order 8802 - Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry ." __FDR Library Home Page__. 21 Oct 2008 < http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/odex8802.html >.