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George Washington to New Hampshire, 29 December 1777
(Detail, GLC03706)
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Great Depression, World War II, and the American West:
FDR and Civil Rights
by Fred Peronto
Carl Sandburg High School - Orland Park, IL
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http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5154/
http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/35th/thelaw/eo-8802.html
Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 six months before the United States
entered World War Two. The order banned discrimination based upon race, color
or national origin. This action was designed to calm potential labor agitation
and respond to a threat by A. Phillip Randolph to organize a March on Washington
by 100,000 black workers protesting job discrimination. It was the first time
a president had taken action to ban discrimination by private employers engaging
in government contracts and the first major action taken by the federal government
since reconstruction to ensure equal rights for blacks.
Less than a year later, on June 16, 1942, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066.
This order facilitated the forced detention of over 120,000 Japanese Americans
in 10 camps spread throughout the western United States. The order to be relocated
couldn't be appealled and thousands of Japanese lost their homes and much of their
property.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 8022
June 25, 1941
WHEREAS it is the policy of the United States to encourage full participation
in the national defense program by all citizens of the United States, regardless
of race, creed, color, or national origin, in the firm belief that the democratic
way of life within the Nation can be defended successfully only with the help
and support of all groups within its borders; and
WHEREAS there is evidence that available and needed workers have been barred from
employment in 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:
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;
And it is hereby ordered as follows:
1. All departments and agencies of the Government of the United States concerned
with vocational and training programs for defense production shall take special
measures appropriate to assure that such programs are administered without discrimination
because of race, creed, color, or national origin;
2. All contracting agencies of the Government of the United States shall include
in all defense contracts hereafter negotiated by them a provision obligating the
contractor not to discriminate against any worker because of race, creed, color,
or national origin;
3. There is established in the Office of Production Management a Committee on
Fair Employment Practice, which shall consist of a chairman and four other members
to be appointed by the President. The Chairman and members of the Committee shall
serve as such without compensation but shall be entitled to actual and necessary
transportation, subsistence and other expenses incidental to performance of their
duties. The Committee shall receive and investigate complaints of discrimination
in violation of the provisions of this order and shall take appropriate steps
to redress grievances which it finds to be valid. The Committee shall also recommend
to the several departments and agencies of the Government of the United States
and to the President all measures which may be deemed by it necessary or proper
to effectuate the provisions of this order.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The White House
June 25, 1941
EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066
The President
Executive Order
Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas
Whereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection
against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense
premises, and national-defense utilities as defined in Section 4, Act of April
20, 1918, 40 Stat. 533, as amended by the Act of November 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1220,
and the Act of August 21, 1941, 55 Stat. 655 (U.S.C., Title 50, Sec. 104);
Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United
States, and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize and direct
the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time
designate, whenever he or any designated Commander deems such action necessary
or desirable, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as
he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all
persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to
enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary
of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion. The
Secretary of War is hereby authorized to provide for residents of any such area
who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations
as may be necessary, in the judgment of the Secretary of War or the said Military
Commander, and until other arrangements are made, to accomplish the purpose of
this order. The designation of military areas in any region or locality shall
supersede designations of prohibited and restricted areas by the Attorney General
under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, and shall supersede the responsibility
and authority of the Attorney General under the said Proclamations in respect
of such prohibited and restricted areas.
I hereby further authorize and direct the Secretary of War and the said Military
Commanders to take such other steps as he or the appropriate Military Commander
may deem advisable to enforce compliance with the restrictions applicable to each
Military area hereinabove authorized to be designated, including the use of Federal
troops and other Federal Agencies, with authority to accept assistance of state
and local agencies.
I hereby further authorize and direct all Executive Departments, independent establishments
and other Federal Agencies, to assist the Secretary of War or the said Military
Commanders in carrying out this Executive Order, including the furnishing of medical
aid, hospitalization, food, clothing, transportation, use of land, shelter, and
other supplies, equipment, utilities, facilities, and services.
This order shall not be construed as modifying or limiting in any way the authority
heretofore granted under Executive Order No. 8972, dated December 12, 1941, nor
shall it be construed as limiting or modifying the duty and responsibility of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with respect to the investigation of alleged
acts of sabotage or the duty and responsibility of the Attorney General and the
Department of Justice under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, prescribing
regulations for the conduct and control of alien enemies, except as such duty
and responsibility is superseded by the designation of military areas hereunder.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The White House,
February 19, 1942.n D. Roosevelt
The White House,
June 25, 1941
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1. Identify the actions mandated by each of these Executive Orders.
How are they similar? How are they different?
2. What difficulties would Roosevelt have faced in issuing 8802? Speculate about
the circumstances that allowed him, politically, to take this unprecedented action.
3. If you had been a Japanese-American living in California in 1942, how might
you have felt upon hearing that Roosevelt had issued 9066? What justifications
might Roosevelt have offered to support his decisions?
4. Examining these two documents in the aggregate, how should FDR be remembered
in terms of civil rights?
Explain your viewpoint.
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