EOTO: Executive Order 9981

On July 26th, 1948, Executive Order 9981 was signed by President Harry Truman and was a pivotal step in advancing civil rights in our military with desegregation.   During the 1940s, there was a large push for civil rights, which came to a standstill as the military was segregated.  During and after World War II pressure poured in from civil rights activists, veterans, and the NAACP about the treatment of Black servicemen and the discrimination they faced.

The lead up to the Order, waves of African American men coming home brought back stories not just about their fight with the enemy, but their fight with the government.  During the war, these men were given the tasks no one wanted to do, denied the same opportunities and recognition for their service, and were forced to work in segregated units as their white counterparts.  Incidents of violence and discrimination were seen as the soldiers came back from deployments, which further highlighted the urgency of addressing racial inequality.  These acts caused a personal fire to be lit within President Truman, as he was a veteran himself, and saw these men as brothers in arms with all disregard of their race. 

The Committee of Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services was President Trumans way of enforcement. Known as the Fahy Committee, which was coined as Charles Fahy was named as chairmen, had b
een tasked with investigating the racial practices within the military and ensuring compliance with the desegregation efforts being made.  While implementing Trumans Order, the committee faced hard resistance from the military leaders and institutions who were relucntent to change their values and practices of segregationist.  Regardless, the Committee worked to implement the order as a way to dismantle the discriminatory polices and set stages of integration within the armed forces.  

Much like the education system, the progress made to integrate the military was not immediate or the same across all of the branches. While the Nacy and the Air Force moved quickly towards integration, the army remained to put up a fight for 6 years against integration. Their fight played as a backdrop during the Korean War and finally giving into the Order in 1954.  The Korean War became the turning point of military integration as the demands for greater personnel and the inefficiencies of a segregated military became obvious.  This further accelerated the acceptance from branches and the officers as they had to  recognize Black soldiers and their contributions.  

Executive Order 9981 had lasting impacts on the civil rights movement, and advocated for a desegregated workplace within all federal jobs.  Commiting the federal government into addressing the systemic racism and discrimination that African Americans had faced within the workplace for years.  The desegregation of the armed forces served as a model and example for how other institutions were to integrate, and gave the civil rights movement momentum for even more change.  While their are many changes and hardships that were still faced, by the mid-1950s the military had made substantial progress into being one of the most integrated institutions in the United States.