Executive Order 8802 addressed what?

• A. Desegregation of the armed forces
• B. Ended segregation in schools
• C. Stopped discrimination in industrial and government jobs
• D. Created the Fair Deal

Answer: (C)

During World War II, the government used executive action to ensure equal opportunity in the workplace, especially in war-related industry. Executive Order 8802 barred discrimination in employment by defense contractors and federal agencies and established the Fair Employment Practices Committee to promote and monitor compliance. The aim was to open up industrial and government jobs to African Americans and others who had been excluded, so the country could sustain wartime production. This action targeted employment practices in industry and government, rather than schools, the military, or postwar policy programs. Desegregation of the armed forces came later, as did school desegregation and the Fair Deal policies.