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Abstract
From 1941 to 1962, George James Fleming, while fulfilling his duties as a Black civil servant employee with the President’s Committee, Fair Employment Practices (FEPC) federal agency and the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee (EEOC) local agency in Baltimore City also known as the “Baby FEPC,” compelled both government agencies’ respectively to uphold their constitutional obligations to ensure equal protection for African Americans victimized by legal segregation and discrimination within different labor industries. Fleming would utilize both government agencies as a resource to effect meaningful change by enabling them the opportunity to redress their grievances through viable options. Fleming did not hesitate to work alongside many national and local civil rights organizations as well as community grassroots activists to ensure that fair employment practices became a reality for all Americans.
The United States as a whole, and Baltimore City specifically witnessed an intersection of the labor and freedom movements in complex and interesting ways during this critical period under discussion. In fact, Jim Crow legislation nationwide and in various cities had fortified the maintenance of political and economic segregation throughout America in all facets of social life. This egregious custom significantly impeded the capability of African Americans to partake equally in the pre- and post-World War II wartime production of countless labor industries that proffered them an opportunity to substantively increase their income unlike those who performed agricultural or domestic labor.
