During world war ii, racially discriminatory hiring practices in defense industries were prohibited by

President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Fair Employment Act or Executive Order 8802. It was the first national action, though not a law, to encourage equal opportunity and ban employment discrimination in the United States. The executive order was issued in reply to force from civil rights activists A. Philip Randolph, Walter White, and others concerned in the March on Washington Movement who had intended a march on Washington, D.C. in 1941 to dispute racial discrimination in industry and the military. They suspended the march after Executive Order 8802 was issued.