In 1941, the United States was building weapons for World War II. Factories needed workers badly. But many companies refused to hire Black Americans. A. Philip Randolph was a labor leader who decided to fight back. He planned a massive protest march on Washington, D.C. He expected 100,000 people to join him. President Franklin Roosevelt did not want the march to happen. He worried it would embarrass the country during wartime. So Roosevelt made a deal. On June 1, 1941, he signed Executive Order 8802. This order banned racial discrimination in defense jobs and government work. It was the first federal action against workplace discrimination since the end of the Civil War. Randolph called off the march. The order created the Fair Employment Practices Committee to investigate complaints. Thousands of Black workers entered factories that had previously locked them out. They built planes, tanks, and ships alongside white workers. The order was not perfect. Many companies found ways around it. But it proved something powerful: organized pressure could force the government to act on civil rights.