Affirmative action originated in the World War II President's Committee for Fair Employment Practice (FEPC). FEPC prohibited discrimination in employment related to the war effort on the basis of race, religion, and nationality. It included women only as members of these covered categories. Though a weak agency, its dedicated staff pushed its mandate by attempting to persuade employers and unions to advance African American workers throughout their workplaces and not merely settle individual complaints. Analysis of case files shows the FEPC not only recommending color blindness-equal job opportunity no matter one's race, religion, or nationality-but also calling for positive action, for taking account of discrimination based on group membership. Modern affirmative action policy had its birth during the Second World War in the fight against racial discrimination. Responding to the March on Washington Movement under A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Franklin D. Roosevelt created the President's Committee on Fair Employment Practice (FEPC) in June 1941 to prohibit discrimination in employment related to the war effort. FEPC covered employers, including government agencies and unions. It applied to African Americans and other racial minorities, Jews and other religious minorities, and non-citizens or those not of U.S. nationality (Reed 1991; Pfeffer 1990, 45-132). It included women as members of covered groups, but not as a recognized category in their own right. Reflecting greater