View source for Executive Order 9981

{{Use American English|date=November 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Short description|1948 order by President Truman}}
[[File:Executive Order 9981.jpg|thumb|Executive Order 9981]]
'''Executive Order 9981''' was an [[executive order]] issued on July 26, 1948, by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Harry S. Truman]]. It abolished discrimination "on the basis of [[Racial discrimination|race]], [[Discrimination based on skin color|color]], [[Religious discrimination|religion]] or [[Ethnic penalty|national origin]]" in the [[United States Armed Forces]]. The Order led to the [[Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces|re-integration of the services]] during the Korean War (1950–1953).<ref name=trumanlibrary>{{cite web|title=Executive Order 9981|url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/9981.htm|publisher=Harry S. Truman Library and Museum|access-date=December 24, 2011|archive-date=January 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122055428/https://www.trumanlibrary.org/9981.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was a crucial event in the post-World War II [[civil rights movement]] and a major achievement of Truman's presidency.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Farrell |title=Why Harry Truman Ended Segregation in the US Military in 1948 |url=https://www.history.com/news/harry-truman-executive-order-9981-desegration-military-1948 |website=[[History (American TV network)|history.com]] |publisher=A&E Television Networks|access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109015008/https://www.history.com/news/harry-truman-executive-order-9981-desegration-military-1948 |archive-date=January 9, 2021 |date=November 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=How Harry S. Truman went from being a racist to desegregating the military |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/07/26/how-harry-s-truman-went-from-being-a-racist-to-desegregating-the-military/ |access-date=April 20, 2022 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> 

For Truman, Executive Order 9981 was inspired, in part, by an attack on [[Isaac Woodard]] who was an American soldier and [[African Americans|African American]] World War II veteran. On February 12, 1946, hours after being honorably discharged from the United States Army, he was attacked while still in uniform by South Carolina police as he was taking a bus home. The attack left Woodard completely and permanently blind. President Harry S. Truman ordered a federal investigation. Truman also established the [[President's Committee on Civil Rights]], whose report, ''To Secure These Rights'', condemned the state of civil rights in the nation and recommended actions to correct these failures. He then made a historic speech to the [[NAACP]] and the nation in June 1947 in which he described civil rights as a moral imperative, submitted a comprehensive civil rights bill to Congress in February 1948, and issued Executive Orders 9980 and 9981 on July 26, 1948, desegregating the armed forces and promoting anti-discrimination throughout the federal government.

==Before Executive Order 9981==
[[File:Chicago Defender July 31 1948.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[The Chicago Defender]]'' announcing Executive Order 9981]]

Black Americans in the military worked under different rules that delayed their entry into combat. They had to wait four years before they could begin combat training while a white American would begin training within months of being qualified. The [[United States Army Air Corps|Air Corps]] was deliberately delaying the training of African Americans even though it needed more manpower (Survey and Recommendations<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/desegregation/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1941-09-22&documentid=11-1&pagenumber=1|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160309214800/http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/desegregation/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1941-09-22&documentid=11-1&pagenumber=1|url-status = dead|archive-date = March 9, 2016|title = Survey and Recommendations Concerning the Integration of the Negro Soldier into the Army|date = September 22, 1941|website = Harry S. Truman Library}}</ref>). The [[Women's Army Corps]] (WAC) reenlistment program was open to black women, but overseas assignments were not.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.army.mil/html/books/030/30-14-1/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301233917/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/030/30-14-1/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 1, 2015|title=The Women's Army Corps, 1945–1978|last=Morden|first=Bettie J.|year=1990|website=history.army.mil|publisher=U.S. Army Center of Military History|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=85–87|access-date=October 23, 2019}}</ref>

Black soldiers who were stationed in Britain during [[World War II]] learned that the US military attempted to impose [[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow segregation]] on them even though Britain did not practice the [[Racism in the United States|racism]] which was practiced in the US. According to author [[Anthony Burgess]], when pub owners in [[Bamber Bridge]] were told to segregate their facilities by the US military, they installed signs that read "Black Troops Only". One soldier commented: "One thing I noticed here and which I don't like is the fact that the English don't draw any color line. The English must be pretty ignorant. I can't see how a white girl could associate with a negro."<ref>{{cite web |title=Black troops were welcome in Britain, but Jim Crow wasn't: the race riot of one night in June 1943 |url=https://theconversation.com/black-troops-were-welcome-in-britain-but-jim-crow-wasnt-the-race-riot-of-one-night-in-june-1943-98120 |first=Alan |last=Rice |publisher=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |date=June 22, 2018 |access-date=May 30, 2021}}</ref>

In a 1945 survey which was conducted among 250 white officers and sergeants who had a black [[platoon]] assigned to their company, the following results were collected: 77% of both officers and sergeants said that they had become more favorable towards black soldiers after a black platoon was assigned to their company (no cases were found in which someone said that their attitude towards blacks had turned less favorable), 84% of officers and 81% of sergeants thought that the black soldiers had performed very well in combat, only 5% of officers and only 4% of sergeants thought that black infantry soldiers were not as good as white infantry soldiers, and 73% of officers and 60% of sergeants thought that black soldiers and white soldiers got along very well when they were together.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=July 3, 1945 |title=Opinions About Negro Infantry Platoons in White Companies of 7 Divisions |url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/desegregation/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1945-07-03&documentid=10-11&pagenumber=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010155408/https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/desegregation/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1945-07-03&documentid=10-11&pagenumber=1 |archive-date=October 10, 2017 |website=Harry S. Truman Library}}</ref> According to this particular survey, there were no reasonable grounds for [[Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces|racial segregation in the armed forces]].

==Attempts to end discrimination==
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In 1947, civil rights activist [[A. Philip Randolph]], along with colleague Grant Reynolds, renewed efforts to end discrimination in the military, forming the Committee Against [[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow]] in Military Service and Training, later renamed the League for Non-Violent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation.<ref>Susan M. Glisson, ''The Human Tradition in the Civil Rights Movement'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), 91</ref>
Truman's Order expanded on [[Executive Order 8802]] by establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the military for people of all races, religions, or national origins.

The order:

<blockquote>It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale.</blockquote>

The order also established a committee to investigate and make recommendations to the civilian leadership of the military to implement the policy.

[[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Army Chief of Staff]] Gen. [[Omar Bradley]] disliked the order, commenting that “[t]he Army is not out to make any social reforms." Bradley was forced by president Truman to issue a public apology.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moye |first=J. Todd |title=Freedom Flyers : The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II |publisher=Oxford University Press, Incorporated |year=2012 |isbn=9780195386554 |pages=193 |language=en |quote="Truman finally broke the logjam in July with the release of Executive Order 9981, which announced: It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, or religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Omar Bradley bucked the order, using language that already sounded antique. Bradley pronounced, “The Army is not out to make any social reforms. The Army will put men of different races in different companies. It will change that policy when the Nation as a whole changes it.” Truman reiterated, however, that though the order called for gradual desegregation of the armed forces, the armed forces would desegregate. He forced Bradley to issue a public apology."}}</ref>

The order eliminated [[Montford Point]] as a segregated Marine [[recruit training|boot camp]]. It became a satellite facility of [[Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune|Camp Lejeune]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lejeune.marines.mil/Visitors/History.aspx|title=Marine Corps Base Camp LeJeune – History|website=Official Website of the United States Marine Corps|access-date=March 24, 2017}}</ref>

Most of the actual enforcement of the order was accomplished by President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration (1953–1961), including the desegregation of military schools, hospitals, and bases.  The last of the [[Military history of African Americans|all-black units in the United States military]] was abolished in September 1954.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nichols|first=David A.|title=A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution|url=https://archive.org/details/matterofjusticee00nich|url-access=registration|year=2007|publisher=Simon and Schuster|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4165-4554-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/matterofjusticee00nich/page/42 42–50]}}</ref>

[[Kenneth Claiborne Royall]], [[United States Secretary of the Army|Secretary of the Army]] since 1947, was forced into retirement in April 1949 for continuing to refuse to desegregate the army nearly a year after President Truman's Order.<ref>Robert B. Edgerton, ''Hidden Heroism: Black Soldiers in America's Wars'', Barnes & Noble, 2009, p. 165</ref>

Fifteen years after Truman's order, on July 26, 1963, [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Robert McNamara]] issued [[Directive 5120.36]] encouraging military commanders to employ their financial resources against facilities used by soldiers or their families that discriminated based upon sex or race.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.army.mil/html/books/050/50-1-1/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725052151/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/050/50-1-1/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 25, 2014|title=Integration of the Armed Forces|last=MacGregor|first=Morris J. Jr.|year=2001|website=history.army.mil|publisher=U.S. Army Center of Military History|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=548–549|access-date=October 23, 2019}}</ref>

In contravention to Truman's executive order, the United States complied{{when?|date=April 2025}} with a non-public request from the Icelandic government not to station black soldiers on the [[Naval Air Station Keflavik|US base in Keflavík]], Iceland. The United States complied with the Icelandic request until the 1970s and 1980s when black soldiers began to be stationed in Iceland.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ingimundarson|first=Valur|date=October 1, 2004|title=Immunizing against the American Other: Racism, Nationalism, and Gender in U.S.-Icelandic Military Relations during the Cold War|url=https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/10.1162/1520397042350892|journal=Journal of Cold War Studies|volume=6|issue=4|pages=65–88|doi=10.1162/1520397042350892|s2cid=57559468|issn=1520-3972|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Gardner, Michael R. ''Harry Truman and civil rights'' (SIU Press, 2002) [https://books.google.com/books?id=N3Ypq7AqtxQC&dq=truman+civil+rights&pg=PR10 online]
* Gropman, Alan L. ''The Air Force Integrates, 1949–1964'' (Office of Air Force History, 1986) [https://books.google.com/books?id=dxORecKEutsC&dq=Gropman,+Alan+L.+%27%27The+Air+Force+Integrates,+&pg=PR1 online]
* Rottinghaus, Brandon, and Adam L. Warber. "Unilateral orders as constituency outreach: executive orders, proclamations, and the public presidency." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 45.2 (2015): 289–309.
* Taylor, Jon E. ''Freedom to Serve: Truman, Civil Rights, and Executive Order 9981'' (Routledge, 2013)
* Warber, Adam L., Yu Ouyang, and Richard W. Waterman. "Landmark executive orders: Presidential leadership through unilateral action." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 48.1 (2018): 110–126.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Executive Order 9981}}
{{Wikisource}}
* [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/9981.htm Full text of Executive Order 9981] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122055428/https://www.trumanlibrary.org/9981.htm |date=January 22, 2019 }} from the [[Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100721102246/http://www.history.army.mil/books/integration/iaf-fm.htm Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940–1965 (Defense Studies Series)] by Morris J. MacGregor Jr., from the [[United States Army Center of Military History]]
* [https://blog.history.in.gov/?p=3261  {{"'}}Blacks Must Wage Two Wars:' The Freeman Field Uprising & WWII Desegregation"], Indiana Historical Bureau
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct16c6 "Fighting Together in Korea"]{{snd}}episode of the [[BBC World Service]]'s radio program ''The Documentary'' concerning the effects of Executive Order 9981

{{Harry S. Truman}}
{{Civil rights movement}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1948 in American law]]
[[Category:July 1948 in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century military history of the United States]]
[[Category:African-American history between emancipation and the civil rights movement]]
[[Category:African-American history of the United States military]]
[[Category:Executive orders of Harry S. Truman|9981]]
[[Category:History of civil rights in the United States]]