2005 37c To Form a More Perfect Union: Executive Order

On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, calling for the end of racial discrimination in the US armed forces.

Even so, large numbers of African-Americans still volunteered to fight for their country. One million African-Americans served in the military during World War II. Many black servicemen hoped their military service would earn them equal status in US society. When they returned home, they were impatient with continuing anti-Negro discrimination and violence.

In 1947, A. Philip Randolph and Grant Reynolds formed the Committee Against Jim Crow in Military Service and Training to protest discrimination in the armed services.  This group, later renamed the League for Non-Violent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation, as well as black leaders, pressed President Truman to end military segregation.

Truman was aware how important the black vote was to his Democratic Party. He knew that integration would also help America win Cold War allies among Third World countries.  So on July 26, 1948, Truman signed Executive Order 9981 ordering “…equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.”