The Dayton forum. [volume] (Dayton, Ohio) 1913-1949, 1941-08-01


Of Government contracts.
Here is the story as Mr.. Tucker
tells it:
How the March on Washington
~. Was Stopped. .....
President Roosevelt's order forbid
ding discrimination against Negroes in
defense factories was literally priced out
Of him by threat of march on Wash
ington' bv members of that race. The
prospect of such demonstration at this
time threw the Administration into pam
ic They manipulated every lever IN sight
to prevent the affair.
The director Of the threatened march
A. Philip Randolph, wrote to the Presi-
dent several weeks ago, asking II ne
would address the group when it reach
ed the capital on July |. There was no
reply for two weeks. Then Mr. Kan
dolph, who heads the Brotherhood OF
Pullman Porters, received letter from
Mrs Roosevelt. She said she had discus
sed the matter with her husband, and
that he was sternly opposed to the idea.
Last week Negro leaders were invited to
New York by Mayor LaGuardia in his
capacity as Civilian Defense Director. He
begge dthem to call off the demonstration
but they refused. President Roosevelt
subsequently summoned the sponsors to
the White House, and personally asked
them to leave the matter to him. Again
they declined.
Mr.. LaGuardia and Aubrey Williams,
NYA Director, attended the session. Mrs
Roosevelt, who was at Campobello OIL
New Brunswick, tried by telephone to
persuade them to listen to her and her
husbands arguments Still the Negro
representatives, supported by the most
prominent members of their race re-
fused to abandon the scheme
The climax came dramatically at a
White House conference early this week.
The dramatis personae reveal the Presl-
dents intense desire to avert spectacle
which inevitably would have political, So
cial and economic repercusslOns
Besides Mayor LaGuardia, Mr.. Will
liams and Social Security Co-ordinator
Anna Rosenberg, f. D. r. called In OPM-
ers Knudsen, Knox. Stimson and Hiilman
The President opened the discussion
proposed march" He declared that
problems affecting the Negro race can
not be settled in that manner. He ask
ed What would happen if the Irish and
Jewish people staged a march on Wash
ington? It would be resented by the
American people because Sucn maTcn
would be considered as an effort to CO.
cree the Government and make it do GER
tain things"
Mr.. Randolph replied that the Irish
and Jewish people have no grievances,
while the Negroes do, and added that all
other forms of protest have proved ef-
fective When Mr. Roosevelt refused to
address the group on the ground that he
does not speak to such assemblages, he
was reminded that he once spoke before
the American Youth Congress, which
booed him when he denounced the Com
munists F. d. R. soon left the room.
The practical Mayor LaGuardia then
suggested issuance Of Presidential or
der against discrimination on defense
Jobs Both Mr. Knudsen and Mr.. Hill
man opposed this because SO many other
factories are involved in the defense pro
gram. Both agree, however, to use then
influence to insure the hiring of Ne
groes. Mr. Randolph and Walter White
Of the NAACP, replied that education
and persuasion have been tired ane
failed. Then it was that the Presiden
agreed to issue his mandate.