An ongoing illustrative history study
This piece originally posted 2/9/2021
Prelude | MLK | CMB | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | Email |
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"In every truth, the beneficiaries of a system cannot be expected to destroy it."
Asa Philip Randolph's accomplishments are so numerous and legendary, that I almost considered not including his biography in my ongoing list.* Unfortunately after an offhand conversation with two (well-educated and thoroughly civil-rights-affirming) co-workers, I was proven wrong, and so decided that a brief rundown of Randolph's amazing life was in order:
Born in 1889 Florida, the greatest asset Randolph was able to bring to civil rights movement over the course of his long life was perspective.
Inspired by the writings of W.E.B. Du Bois (see Lesson #1 in this series), in 1917 he became a committed labor organizer and founded 'The Messenger,' which not only spoke out against segregation but advocated for better working conditions, particularly for workers of color. Naturally this was swiftly deemed a radical socialist publication, but it opened up avenues for Randolph. In 1925 he co-founded (along with colleague E. D. Nixon, about whom the next Lesson in this series will focus) a labor activist union called the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) - at the time there were more people of color employed by the Pullman Railroad Company than in any other industry in America.
In the months leading up to the U.S. entry into World War II, Randolph first proposed the notion of a March On Washington (way before it was cool!), in an effort to desegregate the military and supporting defense industries. When then-President FDR asked him to reconsider organizing such a demonstration, Randolph refused. In response FDR issued Executive Order 8802 which effectively banned racial discrimination in the military and in the defense industry, for the duration of WWII. While the March of 1941 ultimately did not go ahead, a blueprint had been laid for a later iteration in 1963 --an historic event for which Randolph, along with Bayard Rustin (see Lesson #5 in this series) is credited as the chief architect.
However perhaps Randolph's greatest contribution to civil rights came in the postwar years, in March 1948, in the form of an impassioned speech before the Senate Armed Services Committee --an even more committed push to decisively dismantle remaining Jim Crow laws still holding sway in the U.S. military. President Truman permanently desegregated the military by Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948.
Before his death at the age of 90, Randolph would also found the Negro American Labor Council, serve on the AFL-CIO Executive Council, and establish the A. Philip Randolph Institute, a jobs training center.
Read the text of Executive Order 9981: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-9981-establishing-the-presidents-committee-equality-treatment-and
(* - Footnote: My guiding principle in this ongoing series of #blacklivesmatter biographies has been to do a deeper dive on the life of an individual whose name is perhaps not as well-known as it should be. So for that reason I've mostly steered away from popular entertainers or sports figures: everyone knows who Jimi Hendrix, Denzel Washington, and Michael Jordan are. For similar reasons I haven't included the larger-than-life historical figures such as Rosa Parks or MLK or Malcolm X or Harriet Tubman; those names are well-known to all and there are FAR better biographies --and certainly better artistic interpretations-- to be found. That said: thank you for sticking with me this far. More to come.)
Next page - Lesson 69: E. D. Nixon