A. Philip Randolph. James Robinson, MA

Transcription

1 A. Philip Randolph James Robinson, MA

2 So, who is this guy?

3 Why do we have parks and streets named after him?

4 Asa Philip Randolph Born April 15, 1889 in Crescent City, FL, the son of a minister Raised in Jacksonville. Attended Cookman Institute (the only African-American high school in Florida, until Stanton), where he was valedictorian in Moved to New York to go to college. Founded The Messenger, a radical black weekly newspaper that opposed lynching and worked to promote black employment

5 The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters The Pullman Company developed the first sleeping cars for railroads immensely popular. George Pullman insisted upon hiring blacks as porters and maids. This practice inadvertently led to a growing black middle class. A. Philip Randolph was approached to form a union, and elected president of the union in Within 5 years, the porters got their first substantial raise in decades. This union was the first successful black union. Most unions did not allow black members.

6 A. Philip Randolph and Unions Randolph s success with the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters earns him national acclaim He is elected as the first black officer of the CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) The CIO welcomes blacks into their affiliated unions. Randolph is still an officer when the CIO merges with the American Federation of Labor (The AFL)

7 A. Philip Randolph and Civil Rights. Despite union gains, Randolph is dismayed by continuing discrimination against blacks in the workplace. Randolph begins organizing a March on Washington in 1940 a peaceful protest against discrimination in hiring practices. The proposed March gets the attention of President Franklin Roosevelt, who worries that it would show disunity amidst Americans just as war clouds are gathering in Europe.

8 FDR and EO 8802 President Roosevelt got Randolph to agree to stop the proposed 1940 March. In return, FDR issued Executive Order 8802, which forbade discriminatory hiring in all defense industries. EO 8802 also set up the Fair Practices Employment Commission (FEPC) that oversaw hiring practices and guaranteed an integrated workforce. With the US entry into World War II after Pearl Harbor, this order insured that millions of blacks were hired and working in defense industries. Consider, this was done at a time when the Army was not yet integrated! EO 8802 was a major achievement for A. Philip Randolph.

9 A. Philip Randolph and the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom As the Civil Rights movement blossomed during the 1950s and 1960s, A. Philip Randolph organized a new March on Washington, this time to demonstrate for civil rights. This March was a huge success, as over 200,000 people peacefully marched, then gathered by the Lincoln Memorial to hear the speakers. A. Philip Randolph, as organizer and director, gave the keynote address as the first speaker (left). He gave a brilliant speech, outlining the idea of earmarking the Federal budget to fight poverty. Unfortunately, virtually no one knows that he was even there. He was completely overshadowed by the last speaker of the day.

10 Martin Luther King, Jr. and his amazing I Have A Dream speech

11 A. Philip Randolph later years A. Philip Randolph continued to be active in the civil rights movement until his death in He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Johnson in His advocacy of non-violence, and ability to work within the system was the inspiration for Martin Luther King, Jr and other prominent civil rights leaders. His refusal to compromise and to take criticism from the white unions won him admiration from the more radical black groups like the Nation of Islam. It is difficult to overestimate his influence on the Civil Rights Movement.

12 Aha, so *THAT* is who A. Philip Randolph is!