Randolph, Asa Philip

• Author: Jeffrey Lehman, Shirelle Phelps

Page 228

Asa Philip Randolph played a central role in the drive for CIVIL RIGHTS for African Americans from the 1920s to the 1970s. He was the most prominent African American labor leader during his lifetime, but his leadership went well beyond the struggle to integrate LABOR UNIONS. As the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, he confronted U.S. presidents from

A. Philip Randolph.

FISK UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT to JOHN F. KENNEDY over the slow pace of civil rights reform.

Randolph was born April 15, 1889, in Crescent City, Florida. He moved to New York City as a young man, where he attended City College of New York. He joined the Socialist party and campaigned against U.S. involvement in WORLD WAR I, going so far as to attack W. E. B. DU BOIS, one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), for urging African Americans to serve in the armed forces.

His life's work grew out of a request by Pullman car porters to help them organize a union. In the 1920s railroads dominated U.S. transportation. The dining cars, club cars, and sleeping cars of passenger trains were staffed by African American porters, who earned their money primarily from the tips of passengers. Ignored by the American Federation of Labor (AFL), the porters turned to Randolph for assistance.

Randolph sought from the Pullman Company recognition of the union, improved working conditions, and a MINIMUM WAGE. The struggle took twelve years, but Randolph finally achieved these goals. Despite his success the AFL continued to refuse to allow black members.

WORLD WAR II thrust Randolph into the national spotlight when, in 1941, he demanded

Page 229

that President Roosevelt ban RACIAL DISCRIMINATION in defense industries. Randolph informed the president that if his demand was not met, he would organize a mass march on Washington, D.C. Roosevelt capitulated, signing an order that integrated industries accepting federal defense contracts and which established the Fair Employment Practices Committee.

The membership of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (now part of the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks) declined in the 1950s, as airlines and automobiles became the dominant modes of long-distance transportation. Randolph continued to ascend, however, as he became vice president of the AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL...