Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II

Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II — page 9
WAR WORKERS 9 and Training Branch was to help qualified Negro workers participate in the employment and training opportunities of the national defense program It helped place black workers in defense jobs by removing barriers put in place by some white employers or labor organizations The duties of the Minority Groups Branch of the Labor Division of the War Production Board included making investigations into complaints involv ing minority groups that had been filed with the government Early in 1941 before the United States entered the war black leaders had pressured President Franklin Roosevelt to do some thing about job discrimination against black people The presi dent issued a statement Executive Order 8802 that said 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 To help enforce this order at businesses and manufacturing plants that had government contracts the president formed the Fair Employment Practices Committee FEPC Although the United States hadn’t yet entered the war fighting was in full force in Europe and factories in the United States were already provid ing the warring countries with supplies Many black people saw this gearing up of industries and the establishment of the FEPC as signs of hope for their employment opportunities After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 the United States entered the war Leaders in black communi ties and women’s organizations encouraged women to consider working in war-related jobs They believed black women faced a brighter future with wartime employment They urged women to enroll in free courses offered by the government to teach workers skills that would prepare them for work in defense plants They could learn welding drafting riveting drilling radio construction code receiving and sending engine repair