1941

A. Philip Randolph threatened to march 100,000 Black Americans on Washington to demand equal hiring in the defense industry. Days before the planned march, FDR signed Executive Order 8802, banning discrimination in federal agencies and defense contractors — the first federal civil rights executive action since Reconstruction.

A developer in Detroit built a half-mile concrete wall along Eight Mile Road to physically separate a new white subdivision from an adjacent Black neighborhood, satisfying FHA appraisal requirements that rated proximity to Black residents as a mortgage risk. The FHA explicitly required such separation to guarantee loans.

When WWII draft screening identifies syphilis in some Tuskegee study subjects who might receive treatment through the military, study director Dr. Raymond Vonderlehr contacts the Macon County draft board to have subjects' names removed from treatment rolls. Study participants are actively prevented from receiving treatment available through wartime public health programs. This requires deliberate intervention to maintain untreated controls as penicillin becomes available. The action demonstrates that researchers understand they are denying effective treatment.

When WWII draft screening identifies syphilis in some Tuskegee study subjects who might receive treatment through the military, study director Dr. Raymond Vonderlehr contacts the Macon County draft board to have subjects' names removed from treatment rolls. Study participants are actively prevented from receiving treatment available through wartime public health programs. This requires deliberate intervention to maintain untreated controls as penicillin becomes available. The action demonstrates that researchers understand they are denying effective treatment.

Executive Order 8802 created the Fair Employment Practice Committee to investigate discrimination complaints in defense industries. Though underfunded and lacking enforcement power, it marked the first federal anti-discrimination body since Reconstruction. Black workers filed over 7,000 complaints in its first two years.

As wartime production expanded in 1940–41, major defense contractors — including Boeing, North American Aviation, and Vultee — publicly stated they would not hire Black workers for skilled or semi-skilled positions regardless of qualifications. Government contracts carried no anti-discrimination requirements before EO 8802.

In 1941, Detroit developer James Groesbeck built a concrete wall six feet high along Eight Mile Road to physically separate a new white subdivision from an adjacent Black neighborhood. The FHA had refused to guarantee mortgages in the area unless a physical barrier separated white homebuyers from Black residents. The wall, still partially standing, is a concrete embodiment of federal housing policy's racial segregation mandate and among the most documented physical manifestations of FHA redlining that prevented Black wealth accumulation through homeownership.

In 1941, Detroit developer James Groesbeck built a concrete wall six feet high along Eight Mile Road to physically separate a new white subdivision from an adjacent Black neighborhood. The FHA had refused to guarantee mortgages in the area unless a physical barrier separated white homebuyers from Black residents. The wall, still partially standing, is a concrete embodiment of federal housing policy's racial segregation mandate. It is among the most documented physical manifestations of FHA redlining practices that prevented Black wealth accumulation through homeownership.

Pressured by A. Philip Randolph's threatened march, FDR bans discrimination in defense industries.