Statement by the President Upon Announcing a White House Conference on Equal Employment Opportunities.
BASIC to our national goal of equality of treatment and opportunity for all Americans is the assurance that employment will be on the basis of the applicant's ability and qualifications to do the job, rather than on irrelevant factors of race, religion, national origin, or sex. It is clear to all that economic strength is essential to achieving equality of housing, education, and public accommodation.
The genuine progress of the past few years in this field convinces me that American industry is anxious to assist in achieving equality of employment opportunity. I hope that the new Commission under the chairmanship of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., will benefit by this recent change in national attitude. We expect to obtain from the Conference advice and guidance which will enable the Commission to discharge its responsibilities more effectively.
The Congress has indicated its belief that initial emphasis should be on securing the cooperation and support of the private sectors of our economy--both management and labor. Although every legal enforcement means available to the Commission should be employed when other methods fail, I strongly share the view that efforts to obtain voluntary compliance should receive priority.
In this period of great social change the Nation is at long last beginning to face the varied and complex problems of our minority groups. My interest in the employment problem is of many years standing and I am anxious that our progress continue. The Conference can and should be a useful instrument--I shall do everything possible to make it so, and we welcome the cooperation of all.
Note: The President's statement was made public as part of a White House release announcing that the first White House Conference to plan fair and effective administration of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be held at the Department of State Auditorium on August 19-20, 1965.
The release stated that title VII of the act, establishing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, of which the chairman was Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., had gone into effect on July 2, 1965.
The release also noted that the Conference would bring together in a series of workshops the EEOC Commissioners and key staff members with more than 300 representatives of employers, unions, employment agencies, public and private organizations, and of State and local fair employment commissions in order to discuss the various EEOC programs.
A White House release dated August 5, 1965, carried the tentative schedule of events for the forthcoming Conference and listed the topics to be covered in workshops together with the names of the workshop chairmen (1 Weekly Comp. Pros. Docs., p. 50).
For the President's remarks at the Conference on August 20, see Item 436.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President Upon Announcing a White House Conference on Equal Employment Opportunities. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241353