Dr. Wernher von Braun’s Statement on Equal Employment Opportunity

The Marshall Space Flight Center has achieved an enviable record
to date of successfully meeting the problems which have confronted
us in our bid to place a man on the moon in this decade. This
record has been the result of teamwork and our willingness to
be satisfied with nothing less than a job well done.
While there are many challenges still before us in our efforts to
achieve what has become a national objective, we are confronted today
with a challenge which has all the urgency and importance of our
space exploration program. This is the social problem dealing
with mans relationship with man. Which while not new, has come into
sharp focus in recent years.
Equal employment opportunity in the federal government is the
cornerstone of our federal merit system that can be traced back
almost eighty years to the Civil Service Act itself. However, it was
not until 1961 after the issuance of several orders barring
discrimination in the federal government that President John F.
Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, establishing a new program
of equal employment opportunity in the federal service and among
government contractors. This Executive Order set a new tone
to the governments policy of nondiscrimination by calling for
affirmative action to be taken by all federal agencies and departments
to ensure equal opportunities for all qualified persons seeking
employment with the federal government. In the language of
the Executive Order itself, it declared it to be the “plain and
positive obligation of the United States government to promote and
ensure equal opportunity to all qualified persons without regard
to race, creed, color, or national origin employed or seeking
employment with the federal government and/or government
Since the issuance of his Executive Order 10925 in 1961, the principle
of equal opportunity has also been extended to the economic as
well as the social structure of the entire nation by the passage
of the Civil Rights Act. Thus, in but a few short years, we have
witnessed the culmination of an issue which has had its roots in
American history. The Presidential order is written in strong,
positive terms, its meaning is quite clear, as federal employees,
you should be mindful that the executive order, like the Civil
Service Act, carries with it a strong injunction against
discriminatory acts in the federal service. Under President Johnson,
the order has continued to receive the same urgency and backing as
it did under the late President Kennedy. President Johnson has also
made it clear that equal opportunity for all citizens
would continue as a guiding principle and would receive strong
emphasis under his administration.
The equal employment opportunity program has my complete support.
But to achieve an effective program at Marshall, your support is also
needed. It is important that each of you as a federal employee become
aware of your responsibility in carrying out this program. Your
orientation and training today is directed toward that end. If we at
Marshall are to have affirmative program, one that will place the
Center above reproach, your assistance, your affirmative attitudes and your
dedication to a principle that is based upon what is right, what is
just, and what is fair will be needed. As you accept this responsibility,
let me assure you that you will have the complete backing of the Center,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the United States
government. Learn all you can about this program and apply it to your own
work situation. In doing so, you will become part of what our President has
termed a moral cause. Moral in its best implications. You will also be
doing your part in contributing to the achievement of another job well
done by Marshall Space Flight Center and by NASA.
If we are to extend mans boundary to the outer reaches of the universe, it
is imperative that we also resolve mans relationship with man on this
Earth.

Dr. Wernher von Braun’s Statement on Equal Employment Opportunity

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