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Chapter 2 The Jackie Robinsons of Advertising and Selling Nothing counts but pressure, pressure, more pressure, and still more pressure through broad organized aggressive mass action. —A. Philip Randolph, 1941 As a nation, America in the 1940s faced a host of challenges. Still emerging from the crisis of the Depression, Americans also confronted the chaos of a world war. Within the country, the departure of men and women for military duty led to significant labor shortages in key industries . But wartime also brought opportunities. Rising wages were one immediate result of the conflict, and African American leaders like A. Philip Randolph used the labor shortages to demand better treatment of black workers. In a bold move Randolph, once labeled by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer as ‘‘the most dangerous Negro in America,’’ threatened to lead over ten thousand blacks in a march on Washington to protest discrimination. Some African American leaders viewed his proposed march as being too aggressive in tactics and tone. The Pittsburgh Courier, the largest-circulation black newspaper, went even further, calling the idea ‘‘a crackpot proposal.’’ There had been other protest marches to be sure, but those were local protests confined to the city or issue immediately related to the precipitating event. In contrast to other protest efforts, Randolph proposed a direct confrontation with the highest office of government during wartime. Undaunted, Randolph pressed further as the proposed march triggered a wave of support from the average black American. In response, he increased his original call from ten thousand to one hundred thousand blacks. That was enough for President Roosevelt to act. To forestall the march he capitulated to demands and signed Executive Order 8802 banning employment discrimination in companies with defense contracts and establishing the Fair Employment Practices Commission.1 The Jackie Robinsons 59 The signing of Order 8802 was a major victory for African Americans, and it foreshadowed a rising wave of militancy against discrimination. For example, blacks continued their protests to eliminate segregation in the military. Activists also began calling for a Double V campaign to emphasize the need for victory against fascism abroad and against racism and discrimination at home. All of these efforts foreshadowed a postwar world in which blacks would expand their pursuit of equal rights across a wide spectrum of society.2 The presence of African Americans in the advertising industry is the direct result of pressure like that which Randolph brought to bear on Roosevelt. In the history of the industry, very few agencies proactively sought to hire African American professionals. In the postwar period, those mainstream agencies that did hire blacks did so either out of a need for their expertise on reaching black consumers or because the talent of the applicant was undeniable regardless of race. In fact, in the employment of African American professionals, advertising agencies followed rather than led their clients. Rather than actively seek out black employees as many major corporations had begun to do, most agencies waited until the needs of a particular client necessitated blacks’ expertise on the black consumer market. When such recognition occurred, as when Branch Rickey decided to make Jackie Robinson a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agencies sought their own black firsts. Executive Order 8802 generated tremendous employment opportunities for blacks. Firms with government contracts opened their doors to black employees, giving blacks access to opportunities they could not have imagined just a few years before. Additionally, the number of black civilian workers in the federal government increased to over two hundred thousand. In defense plants, blacks earned as much as ten to fourteen times their prewar earnings. For example, one black domestic worker recalled that her earnings increased from $3.50 per week in Oklahoma to $48 per week as a riveter at an aircraft plant. ‘‘When I got my first paycheck, I’d never seen that much money before,’’ she noted, ‘‘not even in the bank, because I’d never been in a bank too much.’’ Although they still faced a wage imbalance with white workers, many African Americans had more money to spend than ever before. After the war, blacks’ rising wages helped bring them to the attention of the advertising trade press.3 Writers in Advertising Age and other trade journals encouraged their readers to view blacks as a key underdeveloped market and one that would help strengthen the economy. They found a fertile reception for these arguments among American corporations, which looked for ways to maximize profits...

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