Presidents

• Under the New Deal, FDR introduced the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933 to provide work for the unemployed. The CCC banned racial discrimination.
• In 1955, Eisenhower passed an Executive Order stating the principle of equality in federal employment.
• Johnson’s Executive Order in 1965 called for affirmative action to end under-representation of racial minorities in workplace. Discrimination was barred in all federal employment.
• Nixon’s Executive Order required all employers with federal contracts to draft affirmative action policies to actively promote AA.
• President Nixon took up positive discrimination in his Philadelphia Plan, backed by Congress and the SC.
• Reagan’s reduction to welfare benefits fell disproportionately on the AA population.
• The CCC employed 200,000 young AA from 1933 to 1942, teaching them valuable technical skills.