They suggested
that such an aggressive protest would do more to hurt the Afro-
American than help him.
Randolph remained unyielding. Others tried to suggest that the
protest would be bad for the American image and therefore was
unpatriotic. When they suggested that it would create a bad
impression in Rome and Berlin, Afro-Americans retorted that
white racism had already created such an image. Finally,
Roosevelt contacted Randolph and offered to issue an executive
order barring discrimination in defense industries and promised
to put "teeth" in the order, provided Randolph call off the
march. When Randolph became convinced that Roosevelt's intentions
were sincere, he complied.
Roosevelt fulfilled his promise by issuing Executive Order 8802,
which condemned discrimination on the grounds of race, color, or
creed. Then, he established the Fair Employment Practices
Commission and assigned to it the responsibility for enforcing
the order. Many Afro-Americans felt that Executive Order 8802 was
the most important government document concerning the Negro to be
issued since the Emancipation Proclamation.
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