Thus, there is no significant enforcement of the non-discrimination requirements contained in the contracts made by the District government with contractors, subcontractors and vendors.

For Federal contractors, merit hiring is required by Executive Order 10925, and responsibility for enforcement is in the hands of the

President's Committee. The Committee receives complaints and may

investigate and adjust them.

Throughout the nation, the Committee

received 1,738 complaints during the first two years of its operations. Action on 1,040 has been completed. 141 were dismissed because no government contract was involved. Of the remaining 899, findings of discrimination were made and correction action taken in 644 cases, a 15/

rate of 72 percent."

Some results have also been achieved under the "Plans for Progress" program. A survey of employment changes by 65 participating companies across the nation showed that while Negroes comprised only 4.1 percent of the total workforce of the companies when they entered the program, 22.7 percent of those hired in the first six months of the program were Negro. At the start, Negroes held 1.5 percent of salaried jobs. 9.9

percent of those acquiring salaried position in the six months were 16/

Negroes.

The progress is encouraging, but the figures show how far there

is to go.

15/ Statement of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, May 13, 1963, Press Release of President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.

16/ Report of Hobart Taylor, May 10, 1963, Press Release of President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.

In Washington, the Howard University gymnasium situation (See

chapter 6, supra.) shows that the distance between the promise and the reality is great. It has been found that there is little awareness of

the non-discrimination requirement among the men who do the actual

hiring.

17/

Washington is no exception, and the need is for renewed vigor of enforcement.

The intent of the President and the District Commissioners on questions of discrimination in government is crystal-clear. Full implementation of equal opportunity programs will, however, require persistent review, investigation, and vigilance. As has been pointed out earlier--in the Washington area, the influence of Government on all sectors of the economy is often decisive.

The reliance on individual complaints places a heavy responsibility on the private organizations which are active in the civil rights field. Many individuals who are discriminated against are unaware of the procedures which must be followed. The civil rights organizations must increase their efforts to make these procedures familiar, and to assist complainants in their utilization.

Affirmative action by the government, employers, unions and the

community are necessary to supplement the individual complaint procedure.

17/ U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1961 Report, Volume 3,

Employment, p. 92.

In employment as in other fields where bias is predominant, most

will agree that "the ultimate solution will rest on the conscience of

the American people."

1/

But there is evidence that conscience will

all too often remain dormant unless spurred by law. In Washington, real 2/ progress in equal employment opportunity only began about four years ago. Nearly all merit hiring policies in private industry have been in force only since that time. Formerly segregated unions and apprenticeship programs have only recently taken in their first Negroes. The upgrading

of Negro employees in government was begun in earnest in 1961.

During this four-year period, strong executive action was taken by

the Federal and District Governments. Numerous private and quasi-official

groups in the area devoted their attention to the problem.

It is evident that only through the combined efforts of government and citizens' organizations was any progress made possible.

Persuasion,

As this report suggests, much remains to be done. conciliation, and compromise will continue to be important means toward the end, but the limits can only be extended by more forceful and direct

action.

Of those who testified at the Conference on Equal Employment Opportunity of the D.C. Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, there was virtually unanimous support for a Fair Employment Practices ordinance by the D.C. Commissioners. The General Counsel of the

1

D.C. Employment Conference. (P. 1 of statement of Right Reverend
Monsignor George L. Gingras, Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.)

2

Washington Urban League, Third Annual Report, 1963, p. 1.

22-652 O - 6327

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in a formal opinion, dated May 9, 1963,

submitted to this Committee, concludes that the Commissioners have the

power to issue such an ordinance. We fully support that view.

There was widespread support for a minimum wage act for the District of Columbia. The need for increased programs in the District Schools was also supported by a great many witnesses.

In addition, because of Washington's peculiar metropolitan pattern, support was voiced for a Federal FEP Act to include the surrounding communities; without it, Washington will continue to be a city segregated in fact.

Time and patience are often the most comfortable ways by which to solve a problem. Where the problem is relatively insignifieant, they may well be the best ways. But, as has been shown throughout this report, equal employment opportunity is neither an insignificant goal, nor can much more time be allowed to pass without achieving it. With each passing month, the legacy of a century of discrimination accrues unto itself greater and more pernicious dividends.

If we are not to be saddled with the costs of discrimination-

economic, political, legal, and moral--for another generation, the need for action is urgent. It is this sense of urgency, perhaps, that characterizes best the tone and tenor of this Conference.

FINDINGS

General

1. The denial of equal opportunity in employment to minority groups is a significant--and may well be the most significant--factor in the high incidence of crime, unemployment, social dislocation, school drop-outs, and political apathy among members of minority groups.

2. Inequality in employment opportunities seriously undermines the stability of any community, decreases the purchasing power of its citizens, adversely affects the rate of economic progress, increases the tax burden, and creates a potentially explosive situation in which crime and senseless violence become overt symptoms of frustration. All of these conditions are in evidence at present in the District of Columbia, where Negroes, still treated as a minority group, constitute in fact a majority of the population. Unemployment in the Washington Metropolitan Area, as elsewhere, hits the Negroes most severely.

3. No civil rights problem in the Washington Metropolitan Area can be considered exclusively within the artificial limits of the District of Columbia. Employment is no exception. The bulk of the labor force is, and will continue to be, employed in the central city, but a large and expanding job market does exist in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. In these areas, Negroes are almost totally excluded from employment above the menial level.

4. A factor common to all aspects of the problem of securing equal employment opportunity in employment is the demand for "qualified applicants only." In many cases, the demand is merely a cover for discriminatory

practices.