Essay On Executive Order 9981

The Time Has Come, Execute Order 9981
Executive Orders—directives, rules, or regulations issued by the President that carry the effect of law—have the ability to mold history and reform the future. Executive orders, a manifestation of the Ordinance power, have been issued by every president since George Washington. Some of these orders have greatly succeeded in improving and evolving the American society. One of the most pivotal and significant Executive Orders ever implemented was Executive Order 9981. Issued by President Truman on July 26th, 1948, the order tackled the pertinent issue of racism within the armed services and established safeguards to ensure the order’s effectiveness. Standing as an indicator of change, Executive Order 9981

The first and primary provision of President Truman’s order legally terminated racial prejudice within the military by stating, “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”. Truman, knowing the order’s implantation would be resisted, added provisions which established the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services (Fahy Committee). This committee, as stipulated within the order’s provision, was set to investigate the rules, practices, and procedures of all areas of the military and determine in what manners these areas should be altered in order to properly carry out the presidential policy. Truman then neutralized any internal resistance towards the order by detailing, in provisions four through five, that all executive agencies, committees, and persons, are directed to cooperate with the Committee in its work, testify where needed, and offer services when needed. Finally, President Truman shielded his order from immediate termination in his sixth and final provision, which declared that the policy may only be terminated by another executive order; and so, the bar was set for future

With the Soviet Union threat rising, desegregation of the armed forces may have seemed an unnecessary distraction with concern that racial friction between soldiers in theoretical “desegregated” units would reduce army efficiency. However, these opinions fail to factor the large scale African American boycott of the military, making desegregation a decision in the interest of a more effective use of manpower in the armed forces. Once issued, the order’s indisputable, positive effects were felt politically, socially, and economically. The Executive order immediately subdued the African American boycott threats, ensuring the military and economic stability America needed in light of the Soviet threat. Though the military was not fully desegregated until 1954, merely issuing the order impacted the political stage greatly, giving civil rights movements a new sense of belief in non-violent protesting, thus inspiring many new humanitarian reforms. Mirroring the changes within the military, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. By 1955, busses began to desegregate as well. This, in turn, inspired other areas of American society to do away with past prejudices. In 1957 restaurants started