Executive Order 10925, signed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

on March 6, 1961, required government contractors, except in special circumstances, to "take

affirmative action Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...

to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin". It established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (PCEEO), which was chaired by then Vice President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

. Vice Chair and Secretary of Labor

Arthur Goldberg Arthur Joseph Goldberg (August 8, 1908January 19, 1990) was an American politician and jurist who served as the 9th United States Secretary of Labor, U.S. Secretary of Labor, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and t ...

was responsible for the "general supervision and direction" of the Committee's operations. Ten other senior executive appointees also sat on the Committee. The first draft, written by Goldberg and future

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

justice

Abe Fortas Abraham Fortas (June 19, 1910 – April 5, 1982) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1965 to 1969. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Fortas graduated from Rho ...

, was reviewed by Hobart Taylor Jr. and George Bunn. Based on the perceived inefficacy of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's earlier Executive Orders on civil rights, Taylor and Bunn coined the term "affirmative action" to emphasize that employers must actively combat discrimination, rather than passively addressing claims of workplace discrimination as they arise. Following passage of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

and President Johnson's 1965 Executive Order 11246, the Committee's functions were divided between the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

(EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance (which in 1975 was renamed the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs).Golland, David Hamilton, ''Constructing Affirmative Action: The Struggle for Equal Employment Opportunity'' (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2011)

Opposition

Opponents of the PCEEO and Executive Order 10925 included Senator J. Lister Hill, a

segregationist Racial segregation is the separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, such as schools and hospitals by peopl ...

Democrat from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, who claimed that the committee and the executive order were overreaches by the federal government into the private business of America.

References

External links

Text of Executive Order 10925

10925 History of civil rights in the United States 20th-century military history of the United States 1961 in American law 1961 in American politics History of affirmative action in the United States Anti-discrimination law in the United States Employment discrimination Civil rights movement {{civil-rights-movement-stub

Opposition

See also

References

External links