Executive Order 8802

←Executive Order 8801

Executive Order 8802 by President of the United States Reaffirming Policy of Full Participation in the Defense Program by All Persons, Regardless of Race, Creed, Color, or National Origin, and Directing Certain Action in Furtherance of Said Policy

Executive Order 8803→

Signed by President  Franklin D. Roosevelt  June 25, 1941

Federal Register page and date: 6 FR 3109, June 27, 1941

See the Notes section for a listing of Executive Orders affected by or related to the issuance of this Executive Order. Executive Order 8802 (also known as the Fair Employment Act) was issued to prohibit racial discrimination in the national defense industry. It was the first federal law to promote equal opportunity and prohibit employment discrimination in the United States. — Excerpted from Executive Order 8802 on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Executive Order 8802 of June 25, 1941

Reaffirming Policy of Full Participation in the Defense Program by All Persons, Regardless of Race, Creed, Color, or National Origin, and Directing Certain Action in Furtherance of Said Policy

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;

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.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:17 p. m., June 25, 1941]

Notes

Amended by:

• Executive Order 8823, July 18, 1941;
• Executive Order 9111, March 25, 1942;
• Executive Order 9346, May 27, 1943;
• Executive Order 9664, December 18, 1945

See Related:

• Executive Order 9981, July 26, 1948;
• Executive Order 10590, January 19, 1955;
• Executive Order 10722, August 5, 1957;
• Executive Order 10925, March 6, 1961;
• Executive Order 11051, September 27, 1962;
• Executive Order 11114, June 22, 1963;
• Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII, enacted July 2, 1964;
• Executive Order 11162, July 28, 1964;
• Executive Order 11246, November 24, 1965;
• Executive Order 12068, June 30, 1978

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).