In June of 1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, banning discriminatory employment practices by Federal agencies and all unions and companies engaged in war-related work.
Executive Order 8802 had prohibited some discriminatory practices during hiring, but after hiring, companies were free to segregate. Cafeterias and restrooms were segregated. Black workers entered work through separate doors and lived in separate, often inferior housing. African Americans were frequently paid less, assigned more menial jobs, and denied the chance for advancement. In cases where a black worker did manage to get ahead, that success was met with protest or even violence by white workers. On June 3, 1943, 25,000 white workers at Packard Motors in Detroit walked off the job in protest to the promotion of three black workers.