Affirmative Action

14 Pages 3391 Words

Roosevelt issued an executive order on June 25, 1941. This order directed African Americans to be accepted into job-training programs in defense plants. The order also stated that discrimination would not be accepted by defense contract holding employers. It also set up a fair employment practice commissions to investigate charges of racial discrimination. Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower continued to enforce fair employment legislation after Roosevelt’s policies because Congress was unwilling to do so. In 1954, the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education pressured both houses of Congress and the executive office to take some positive steps on behalf of civil rights.
In January 1961, John F. Kennedy took office. Almost immediately Roy Wilkins of the NAACP called for action to promote employment opportunities for African Americans. John F. Kennedy responded with executive order 10925, which created a presidential commission on equal employment opportunity; it also mandated federal contractors to take “Affirmative Action” to e...