The Origin of the Fair Employment Practice Commission
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/225yb636Keywords:
Fair Employment Practice Commission, racial segregation, equal employment.Abstract
Since the end of the Civil War, African Americans, although freed from the oppression of slavery and granted the status of freedmen, have never gained full civil rights due to widespread racial segregation. In their pursuit of a better life and better-paying jobs, many African Americans seized the opportunity of World War I to begin the Great Migration, which contributed to the rise of Black political and economic power. During the New Deal era and the early years of World War II, they faced intolerable employment discrimination and racial segregation. Additionally, there was a stark contradiction between the principles of democracy and freedom that the federal government championed during WWI and WWII and the harsh realities faced by African Americans at home. This discrepancy prompted African Americans, to launch a protest march on Washington, D.C., in 1941. At the same time, Nazi Germany exploited the racial discrimination and segregation in the United States to justify its own racial policies and to attack the United States. Under both domestic and international pressure, President Roosevelt established the FEPC to guarantee equal employment rights for Black minorities in national defense. This paper traces the origins of the FEPC and examines how African Americans struggled for racial equality.
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