Find the right solution for your business.
Explore SolutionsTo get content delivered to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter here. It’s free!
Black Americans have historically faced widespread workplace discrimination. They’ve battled biased hiring practices, segregated unions, vast pay gaps and limited advancement pathways. Through this struggle rose courageous workplace civil rights leaders. They dedicated themselves to dismantling these inequities through legal battles, protests, political advocacy and more.
Their collective efforts produced incremental but meaningful progress in securing fair compensation, safe working conditions and equal access to jobs.
This article spotlights seven leaders whose refusal to accept the status quo helped lay the foundation for more inclusive workplaces. Though much work remains, their stories serve as inspiration to keep advancing the cause of workplace equality and dignity for all.
1. Bayard Rustin
“Rustin was a strategist, an activist, a key figure in the civil rights movement, yet many don’t know his name,” says Evante Daniels, author of Power, Beats, and Rhymes: Reclaiming our Cultural Voice. “Why? Because he was an openly gay man in a time when this was taboo, even within the movements he helped shape.”
Bayard Rustin significantly impacted workplace civil rights for Black workers through his activism and leadership. As a key organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Rustin was instrumental in advocating for the economic rights and labor rights of African Americans. This march was a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. It was also a landmark event for labor rights, highlighting the inseparable connection between racial justice and economic equality.
Rustin’s commitment to labor rights was further demonstrated through his role in founding the A. Philip Randolph Institute in 1965, alongside his mentor A. Philip Randolph. The organization was established as a labor organization for Black trade union members. It emphasized that labor rights were an integral part of the civil rights movement. The institute aimed to integrate unions and promote their importance among Black workers.
Throughout his career, Rustin served the trade union and civil rights movements as a brilliant strategist. He organized coalitions of leaders to support the passage of civil rights and anti-poverty legislation in the 1960s. As the first executive director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Rustin worked closely with the labor movement to ensure Black workers’ rightful place in the House of Labor, advocating for racial justice and securing jobs and freedom for all Americans.
Rustin’s activism was not limited to racial equality; he also fought for gay rights and was an advocate for AIDS education in the 1980s, demonstrating his commitment to justice and equality for all marginalized communities. His work laid the groundwork for future generations, promoting an inclusive vision of civil rights that encompasses both racial and economic justice.
2. Dr. Dorothy Height
Dorothy Height was an influential civil rights and women’s rights activist. She recognized that dismantling workplace discrimination required addressing both racial and gender barriers collectively. During her four-decade tenure as President of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), Height’s leadership and innovative advocacy pushed open doors to economic access and advancement long closed off to Black women.
Early in her career with the YWCA, Height targeted policies that fostered exclusion and inequality within the organization’s ranks. Her efforts helped spur the adoption of the Interracial Charter in 1946, establishing an official commitment to fight racial injustice in YWCA programs, policies and workplaces. This precedent-setting move pioneered the promotion of diversity and inclusion in professional settings across the country.
In the broader civil rights movement, Height organized creative initiatives like Wednesdays in Mississippi that brought together Black and white women to find common ground and identify solutions to segregation. Though she worked largely outside the spotlight, Height’s bridge-building efforts underscored that securing equitable workplaces depended on unity and collective action across racial lines.
Thanks to Dorothy Height’s vision of interconnection and refusal to acquiesce to injustice, equal workplace rights and protections moved closer to reality for all people. Her influence continues to inspire leaders dedicated to forging diverse, inclusive and just professional spaces.
3. A. Philip Randolph
As a prominent labor organizer and civil rights activist in the early-to-mid 20th century, A. Philip Randolph was instrumental in advancing workplace rights and opportunities for Black Americans.
In 1925, Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP), the first major Black-led labor union in the country. The BSCP fought tirelessly against the Pullman Company to improve wages, working conditions and job security for the abused and underpaid community of Black sleeping car porters. The union’s success galvanized Black workers and challenged the exclusionary status quo of the broader labor movement.
Randolph’s most legendary stand came in 1941, when he threatened President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a mass March on Washington unless opportunities opened up for Black workers in defense industries and government agencies. This bold gambit resulted in FDR issuing Executive Order 8802, banning discriminatory hiring practices in these sectors—a watershed moment for workplace inclusion.
Similarly, Randolph pressured President Harry Truman in 1948 with another proposed March on Washington, this time demanding the desegregation of the armed forces. Truman ultimately acquiesced by passing Executive Order 9981, allowing Black Americans to pursue expanded career paths in the newly integrated military.
Randolph also dedicated himself to chipping away at systemic discrimination entrenched within existing labor unions. They actively excluded Black workers from leadership roles and economic gains. He formed the Negro American Labor Council in 1959 specifically to fight for representation and equality within the labor coalition.
Thanks to Randolph’s vision and unrelenting efforts, barriers restraining Black workers slowly began to fall. He helped establish the foundation for more inclusive workplaces based on merit rather than skin color. He remains one of the most impactful leaders at the vital intersection of labor rights and civil rights.
4. Pauli Murray
A trailblazing legal scholar, activist, author and priest, Pauli Murray built a remarkable career fighting for workplace civil rights. Murray’s legal theories and scholarship laid the intellectual groundwork to challenge discrimination far beyond race to impact workplace rights. Yet she remains lesser known than her more visible contemporaries.
Having endured rejection from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill due solely to her race, Murray channeled her frustration into a lifetime of battling the unjust barriers preventing access to careers and economic mobility. She advocated for dismantling discriminatory practices in education, housing, transportation and—by extension—employment.
Long before the term “intersectionality” was coined, Murray was highlighting the interconnectedness between racial discrimination and gender discrimination. She argued that both had to be addressed simultaneously to achieve equality in the workplace. Her 1965 work “Jane Crow and the Law” made the case that workplace protections under the Civil Rights Act should include women as well as minorities.
Murray also collaborated with groups like the National Council of Negro Women. She worked on programs promoting economic security and leadership development for Black women through training and advocacy. She also co-founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966 to connect women’s rights to civil rights.
While often overlooked historically, Murray’s groundbreaking ideas and principled efforts established critical foundations for more equitable workplaces. She serves as a reminder that achieving justice requires uplifting overlooked voices.
5. Crystal Bird Fauset
In 1938, Crystal Bird Fauset shattered barriers when she became the first African American woman elected to a state legislature, winning a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Her trailblazing election opened new avenues of political representation and power for marginalized groups—indirectly spurring progress around workplace rights.
As a representative, Fauset leveraged her platform to sponsor legislation specifically targeting employment discrimination based on race and gender. She introduced nine bills to mandate non-discrimination in hiring, wages and advancement opportunities.
Beyond policy measures, Fauset’s professional advocacy complemented her political goals. As head of Philadelphia’s Works Progress Administration (WPA), she succeeded in eliminating a racial quota system restricting Black women from certain sewing jobs. This direct action expanded work options.
Her visionary leadership opened doors for generations of women of color to participate in politics and demand workplace equality. She remains an inspiration to those continuing the fight today.
6. Thurgood Marshall
Before becoming the first African American appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967, Thurgood Marshall enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a lawyer and civil rights activist. In his role as chief counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) starting in 1940, Marshall meticulously engineered pivotal legal victories that challenged the underpinnings of segregation – profoundly impacting workplaces along the way.
One of his most well-known achievements was the landmark 1954 Brown v Board of Education case, where Marshall successfully argued that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. The ruling struck at the core tenet of the “separate but equal” doctrine. This broadly justified discriminatory practices not just in schools, but also in restaurants, transportation and employment. It provided a framework to contest similar biases in work settings.
Marshall also indirectly influenced workplace legislation through cases like Smith v. Allwright in 1944, which abolished “white primaries” designed to curb Black voting rights. Dismantling barriers to civic participation for people of color allowed more leverage for marginalized groups. They were able to shape policy conversations around hiring regulations and workplace conditions.
By establishing creative legal arguments and protections against discrimination through his Supreme Court cases, Marshall molded strategies for subsequent generations of civil rights lawyers. He set precedents to contest unjust treatment in careers spanning education to transportation to public service. His unrelenting efforts fundamentally prepared the legal soil for seismic workplace protections sprouting through legislation like 1964’s Civil Rights Act.
Thanks to Marshall’s conviction and jurisprudence mastery, the door to more equitable workplaces inch open.
7. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Though best known as the face of the civil rights movement, MLK was also a staunch advocate for economic justice and labor rights. He firmly believed that racial equality was deeply intertwined with economic equality.
King continuously called attention to issues of fair compensation, safe working conditions, and the basic right for all workers to organize without retaliation. When Memphis sanitation workers went on strike in 1968 to protest paltry wages and dangerous equipment, King eagerly backed their efforts, delivering his iconic “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” speech the day before his assassination.
King frequently called out and protested employers and institutions that practiced discriminatory hiring against people of color. He understood that securing equal access to jobs and ensuring fair treatment in the workplace were fundamental pillars of achieving civil rights.
Central to King’s advocacy was his staunch commitment to nonviolent resistance. Following the example of Mahatma Gandhi, King espoused peaceful demonstrations, boycotts, sit-ins and other forms of protest to spotlight injustice and demand meaningful reform. He proved these tactics could successfully pressure employers to dismantle discriminatory practices.
While King tragically did not live to see the passage of monumental legislation like the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act, his activism and galvanizing message laid its foundation. The act outlawed discrimination based on race, religion, sex or national origin. This applied to places of public accommodation and employment—cementing protections King fiercely advocated for.
His visionary leadership and courageous efforts played an integral role in informing both policies and public sentiment around workplace civil rights. The impact of his message continues to shape conversations about dignity, justice and inclusion for all workers to this day.
Still More to Do
While these pioneers produced hard-fought progress around workplace rights, substantial inequities remain deeply entrenched for Black Americans in the workplace.
Black women today are still paid just 64% of what white men earn on average—causing income losses estimated at nearly $1 million over a 40-year career. Additionally, stunning underrepresentation persists in executive suites, with Black CEOs leading only 1.6% of Fortune 500 companies as of 2024. And at the moment, not a single Black woman holds the top spot at these major corporations.
No single victory will erase centuries of injustice overnight. But through collective action, we can inch ever closer to the goal of dignity, justice and fair treatment for all.
For a comprehensive list of DEI talent acquisition tools and more to help your hiring efforts, visit our marketplace today.
