A. Philip Randolph | |
|---|---|
 Randolph in 1963 | |
| President of theBrotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters | |
| In office August 25, 1925 – September 4, 1968 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | C. L. Dellums |
| President of theNational Brotherhood of Workers of America | |
| In office c. March 1919 – c. July 1921 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Asa Philip Randolph (1889-04-15)April 15, 1889 Crescent City, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | May 16, 1979(1979-05-16) (aged 90) New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Socialist |
| Spouse | |
Asa Philip Randolph[1] (April 15, 1889 – May 16, 1979) was an Americanlabor unionist and civil rights activist. In 1925, he organized and led theBrotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successfulAfrican-American-led labor union. In theearly Civil Rights Movement and theLabor Movement, Randolph was a prominent voice. His continuous agitation with the support of fellow labor rights activists against racist labor practices helped lead PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt to issueExecutive Order 8802 in 1941, banning discrimination in the defense industries during World War II. The group then successfully maintained pressure, so that PresidentHarry S. Truman proposed a new Civil Rights Act and issued Executive Orders 9980 and9981 in 1948, promoting fair employment and anti-discrimination policies in federal government hiring, and endingracial segregation in the armed services.
Randolph was born and raised inFlorida. He was educated atCookman Institute, then moved to New York City as part of the earlyGreat Migration, leaving behind the discriminatoryJim Crow–era south. There he became convinced that overcoming racism required collective action and he was drawn tosocialism and workers' rights. He unsuccessfully ran for state office on the socialist ticket in the early 1920s, but found more success in organizing for African American workers' rights.
In 1963, Randolph was the head of theMarch on Washington, organized byBayard Rustin, at which ReverendMartin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. Randolph inspired the "Freedom Budget", sometimes called the "Randolph Freedom budget", which aimed to deal with the economic problems facing the black community. It was published by the Randolph Institute in January 1967 as "A Freedom Budget for All Americans".[2]
Asa Philip Randolph was born April 15, 1889, inCrescent City, Florida,[3] the second son of James William Randolph, a tailor andminister[3] in anAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church, and Elizabeth Robinson Randolph, aseamstress. In 1891, the family moved toJacksonville, Florida, which had a thriving, well-established African-American community.[4]
From his father, Randolph learned that color was less important than a person's character and conduct. From his mother, he learned the importance of education and of defending oneself physically against those who tried to hurt one or one's family, if necessary. Randolph remembered vividly the night his mother sat in the front room of their house with a loaded shotgun across her lap, while his father tucked a pistol under his coat and went off to prevent a mob from lynching a man at the local county jail.
Asa and his brother, James, were superior students. They attended theCookman Institute in East Jacksonville, the only academic high school in Florida for African Americans.[5] Asa excelled in literature, drama, and public speaking; he also starred on the school's baseball team, sang solos with the school choir, and wasvaledictorian of the 1907 graduating class.
After graduation, Randolph worked odd jobs and devoted his time to singing, acting, and reading. ReadingW. E. B. Du Bois'sThe Souls of Black Folk convinced him that the fight forsocial equality was most important. Barred by discrimination from all but manual jobs in the South, Randolph moved to New York City in 1911, where he worked odd jobs and took social sciences courses atCity College.[4]
In 1913, Randolph courted and marriedLucille Campbell Green, a widow,Howard University graduate, and entrepreneur who shared his socialist politics. She earned enough money to support them both. The couple had no children.[4]
Shortly after Randolph's marriage, he helped organize theShakespearean Society inHarlem. With them he played the roles ofHamlet,Othello, andRomeo, among others. Randolph aimed to become an actor but gave up after failing to win his parents' approval. Randolph's background as a Shakespearean actor gave him a "deep, resonant voice" that he used to considerable effect in his speeches while his dignified, "courtly" bearing assisted with negotiations.[6]
In New York, Randolph became familiar with socialism and the ideologies espoused by theIndustrial Workers of the World. He metColumbia University law studentChandler Owen, and the two developed a synthesis of Marxist economics and the sociological ideas ofLester Frank Ward, arguing that people could be free only if not subject to economic deprivation.[4] At this point, Randolph developed what became his distinctive form of civil rights activism, which emphasized the importance of collective action as a way for black people to gain legal and economic equality. To this end, he and Owen opened an employment office in Harlem to provide job training for southern migrants and encourage them to join trade unions.[4]
Like others in the labor movement, Randolph favored immigration restriction. He opposed African Americans' having to compete with people willing to work for low wages. But unlike other immigration restrictionists, he rejected the notions of racial hierarchy that became popular in the 1920s.[7]
In 1917, Randolph and Owen foundedThe Messenger[8] with the help of theSocialist Party of America. It was a radical monthly magazine that campaigned against lynching, opposed U.S. participation in World War I, and urged African Americans to resist being drafted, fight for an integrated society, and join radical unions.[9] The Department of Justice calledThe Messenger "the most able and the most dangerous of all the Negro publications." When it began publishing the work of black poets and authors, a critic called it "one of the most brilliantly edited magazines in the history of Negro journalism."[4]
Soon thereafter, the editorial staff ofThe Messenger became divided by three issues: the growing rift between West Indian and African Americans, support for theBolshevik revolution, and support forMarcus Garvey'sBack-to-Africa movement. In 1919, most West Indian radicals joined the new Communist Party, while African-American leftists—Randolph included—mostly supported the Socialist Party. The infighting leftThe Messenger short of financial support, and it went into decline.[4]
Randolph unsuccessfully ran on the Socialist Party ticket forNew York State Comptroller in1920 and forSecretary of State of New York in1922.[8]
Randolph's first experience withlabor organization came in 1917, when he organized a union of elevator operators in New York City.[8] In 1919 he became president of theNational Brotherhood of Workers of America,[10] a union that organized among African-American shipyard and dock workers in theTidewater region of Virginia.[11] The union dissolved in 1921 under pressure from theAmerican Federation of Labor.
Randolph's greatest success came with theBrotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP), which elected him president in 1925.[8] This was the first serious effort to form a labor institution for employees of thePullman Company, a major employer of African Americans. The railroads had dramatically expanded in the early 20th century, and the jobs offered relatively good employment at a time of widespread racial discrimination. But because porters were not unionized, most had poor working conditions and were underpaid.[4][12]
Under Randolph's direction, the BSCP enrolled 51 percent of porters within a year, to which Pullman responded with violence and firings. In 1928, after failing to win mediation under the Watson-ParkerRailway Labor Act, Randolph planned a strike. This was postponed after rumors circulated that Pullman had 5,000 replacement workers ready to take the place of BSCP members. As a result of its perceived ineffectiveness, membership in the union declined;[4] by 1933 it had only 658 members and electricity and telephone service at headquarters had been disconnected because of nonpayment of bills.[13]
The American historian William Harris wrote: "Randolph functioned mainly as a symbolic figure and spokesman. He was in the tradition of those black leaders—they can be seen in the church and black advancement organizations, as well as in politics—whose influence has derived largely from rhetoric and personal presence. But despite his superb rhetorical abilities and presence, Randolph was indecisive and prone to compromise".[14] Harris described Randolph as the most charismatic Afro-American leader of his generation, writing: "Handsome, almost exquisite in bearing, and a master of the arts of oratory and rhetoric, his speech had a hypnotic effect upon his audience. He carried himself with an air that exuded such confidence that opponents found it almost impossible to deny the wisdom of his arguments and supporters were loyal almost to his every word."[14] In 1926, Roy Lancaster, the treasurer of the BSCP, asked that before Randolph spoke at a meeting that his followers collect donations from the audience, because once Randolph spoke the audience would go into the streets full of enthusiasm and excitement.[14]
The BSCP's fortunes changed with the 1932 election of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt. With amendments to theRailway Labor Act in 1934, porters were granted rights under federal law. Membership in the Brotherhood jumped to more than 7,000. After years of bitter struggle, the Pullman Company began to negotiate with the Brotherhood in 1935, and agreed to a contract with it in 1937. Employees gained $2,000,000 in pay increases, a shorter workweek, and overtime pay.[15] Randolph maintained the Brotherhood's affiliation with theAmerican Federation of Labor through the 1955AFL-CIO merger.[16]
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Through his success with the BSCP, Randolph emerged as one of the most visible spokespeople for African-American civil rights. He called shaping public opinion "the most powerful weapon in America" and by 1940 had become the face of the U.S. civil rights movement.[17] A powerful bloc of conservative Southern Democratic whites in both houses of Congress implacably opposed any sort of civil rights legislation, so, like many other black leaders, Randolph tended to focus more on having Roosevelt issue executive orders favorable to civil rights than on lobbying Congress to pass civil rights legislation.[18] In September 1940, at the annual BSCP convention in Harlem, Randolph urged the Roosevelt administration to have no discrimination in theSelective Training and Service Act, which was being debated in Congress at the time.[17] First LadyEleanor Roosevelt was a speaker at the convention, and through her, Randolph obtained a meeting at the White House with PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt on September 27, 1940.[17] At the meeting, Roosevelt promised Randolph there would be no segregation in the military, saying he was sympathetic to the civil rights movement.[19] Two weeks later, the War Department issued a statement saying "the policy of the War Department is not to intermingle colored and white enlisted personnel".[19] Feeling betrayed, Randolph launched nationwide protests demanding the end of segregation in not only the military but also the industries that made weapons for it.[19] At the time, the Roosevelt administration was gearing up to make the U.S. "the arsenal of democracy" by supplying a massive number of weapons to the United Kingdom and its allies that were fighting in World War II, and banning segregation in the defense-related industry would be a huge gain for the civil rights movement.[19] Randolph told an aide: "I think we ought to have 10,000 Negros march down Pennsylvania Avenue...We shall not call upon our white friends to march with us. There are some things that Negros must do on their own".[19]
In 1941, Randolph,Bayard Rustin, andA. J. Muste proposeda march on Washington[8] to protest racial discrimination in war industries, an end to segregation, access to defense employment, the proposal of an anti-lynching law, and the desegregation of the U.S. armed forces.[20] Randolph's belief in the power of peaceful direct action was inspired partly byMahatma Gandhi's success using such tactics during theIndian independence movement.[21] Randolph threatened to have 50,000 blacks march on Washington.[13] In early May 1941, Randolph made the call for a march on Washington, which generated immense enthusiasm among Afro-Americans.[19] On 18 June 1941, Randolph again met with Roosevelt at the White House with the mayor of New York,Fiorello La Guardia, serving as a mediator.[22] Roosevelt asked Randolph to call off the march, saying "questions like this cannot be settled with a sledgehammer", and vaguely promised to have discussions if the march was canceled.[22] Randolph said the march would not be canceled unless Roosevelt gave way.[22] La Guardia broke the impasse by saying: "Gentlemen, it is clear that Mr. Randolph is not going to call off the march, and I suggest we all begin to seek a formula".[22] The march was canceled after Roosevelt issuedExecutive Order 8802, or theFair Employment Act.[8] Some activists, including Rustin,[23] felt betrayed because Roosevelt's order banned discrimination only in war industries, not the armed forces. Nonetheless, the Fair Employment Act is generally considered an important early civil rights victory.[24] Executive Order 8802 read: "There shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or the government because of race, creed, color or national origin".[22] Randolph dropped his demand for an integrated military, which he seems to have privately regarded as unrealistic and only made as a bargaining chip in his talks with Roosevelt.[25] The draft involved young men from all 48 states, and the bloc of conservative Southern whites in Congress would have fought fiercely against an executive order for an integrated military. By contrast, most of the defense-related industry was in the Northeast, the Midwest, and California, so executive Order 8802 had only limited impact in the South. The proposed march on Washington was a turning point in the civil rights movement. One black newspaper wrote at the time, "it demonstrated to the Doubting Thomases among us that only mass action can pry open the doors that have been erected against America's black minority".[26] Before 1941, black leaders had generally sought to lobby white politicians to change the laws.[26] After 1941, there was a tendency to bypass politicians and instead engage in protests.[26] Executive Order 8802 led to an exodus of blacks out of the South comparable to theGreat Migration of the early 20th century.[26] For example, in every month of 1942, about 10,000 Afro-Americans from the South, mostly from Texas and Louisiana, settled in the Los Angeles area, to take jobs in the well-paying aviation industry.[26]
The movement continued to gain momentum. Unlike World War I, Randolph supported the war effort in World War II under the slogan "Double Victory", meaning victory over fascism abroad and racism at home.[26] In 1942, an estimated 18,000 blacks gathered atMadison Square Garden to hear Randolph kick off a campaign against discrimination in the military, war industries, government agencies, and labor unions.[27]
During thePhiladelphia transit strike of 1944, the government backed African-American workers' striking to gain positions formerly limited to white employees.[28]
In 1943, Randolph visited Memphis to launch a personal campaign for free speech afterE. H. Crump, a Democratic ally of Roosevelt, successfully used strong-arm and political pressure tactics to drive two prominent local black Republicans, J. B. Martin andRobert Church Jr., out of the city. After he came to Memphis, Crump denied Randolph venues and intimidated local black leaders into declining speaking invitations by threatening them with jail. When Randolph urgedEleanor Roosevelt, who had friendly political ties with Crump, to do something to counter Crump's "fascist" denial of free speech, she refused. Her reply to Randolph on December 18 read in full: "I referred your letter to a friend of mine when I received it and I am sorry it has not been answered before. I was advised not to do anything, as it might do more harm than good."[29]
Randolph and other activists continued to press for African Americans' rights. In 1947, Randolph and Grant Reynolds renewed efforts to end discrimination in the armed services, forming the Committee Against Jim Crow in Military Service, later renamed the League for Non-Violent Civil disobedience. When PresidentHarry S. Truman asked Congress for a peacetime draft law, Randolph urged young black men to refuse to register. Truman was vulnerable to defeat in 1948 and needed the support of the growing black population in northern states, and he capitulated.[4] On July 26, 1948, Truman began endingracial segregation in the armed forces withExecutive Order 9981.[30]
In 1950, along with NAACP Executive SecretaryRoy Wilkins and National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council leaderArnold Aronson,[31] Randolph founded theLeadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), which became a major civil rights coalition. It coordinated a national legislative campaign on behalf of every major civil rights law since 1957.
| External audio | |
|---|---|
 National Press Club Luncheon Speakers, A. Philip Randolph, August 26, 1963, 55:17, Randolph speaks starting at 4:56 about the forthcoming March on Washington, Library of Congress[32] |
Randolph and Rustin also formed an important alliance withMartin Luther King Jr. in 1957, when schools in the south resisted school integration afterBrown v. Board of Education. Randolph and King organized thePrayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. In 1958 and 1959, Randolph organized Youth Marches for Integrated Schools in Washington, D.C.[4] At the same time, he arranged for Rustin to teach King to organize peaceful demonstrations inAlabama and form alliances with progressive whites.[23] The protests, directed byJames Bevel in cities such asBirmingham andMontgomery, provoked violent backlash by police and the localKu Klux Klan in 1963, which was captured on television and broadcast worldwide. Rustin later said that Birmingham "was one of television's finest hours. Evening after evening, television brought into the living-rooms of America the violence, brutality, stupidity, and ugliness of [police commissioner] Eugene "Bull" Connor's effort to maintain racial segregation."[33] Partly as a result of the violent spectacle in Birmingham, which was becoming an international embarrassment, the Kennedy administration drafted civil rights legislation aimed at ending Jim Crow.[33]
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Randolph finally realized his vision for aMarch on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. It attracted between 200,000 and 300,000 to the nation's capital. The rally is often remembered as the high point of the Civil Rights Movement, and it did help keep the issue in the public consciousness. But when President Kennedy was assassinated three months later, civil rights legislation stalled in the Senate. In 1964, under PresidentLyndon B. Johnson, theCivil Rights Act finally passed. In 1965, theVoting Rights Act passed. King and Bevel deserve great credit for these legislative victories, but the importance of Randolph's contributions to the Civil Rights Movement is large.
Randolph avoided speaking publicly about his religious beliefs to avoid alienating his diverse constituencies.[34] Though he is sometimes identified as an atheist,[4] particularly by his detractors,[34] Randolph identified with theAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church he was raised in.[34] He pioneered the use of prayer protests, which became a key tactic of the civil rights movement.[34] In 1973, he signed theHumanist Manifesto II.[35]
Randolph died in his Manhattan apartment on May 16, 1979. For several years before his death, he had a heart condition and high blood pressure. He had no known living relatives, as his wife Lucille had died in 1963, before the March on Washington.[36]
Randolph had a significant impact on the Civil Rights Movement from the 1930s onward. TheMontgomery bus boycott in Alabama was directed byE. D. Nixon, who had been a member of theBSCP and was influenced by Randolph's methods of nonviolent confrontation.[4] Nationwide, the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s used tactics pioneered by Randolph, such as encouraging African Americans tovote as a bloc, massvoter registration, and training activists fornonviolent direct action.[44]
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