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| Affiliation | Republican |
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| Name | Arthur Fletcher |
| Address |
Washington, District of Columbia , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
December 22, 1924
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| Died | July 12, 2005
(80 years)
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| Contributor | Ralphie |
| Last Modifed | David
Dec 22, 2020 01:13am |
| Tags |
Black - Married - Army -
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| Info | Arthur Allen Fletcher
Civil rights activist and affirmative action champion Arthur A. Fletcher was born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1924. As a child, his parents moved frequently. He graduated from high school in Junction City, Kansas. From there he attended Washburn University, earning degrees in political science and sociology. He later went on to earn a law degree and a Ph.D. in education.
Fletcher organized his first civil rights protest while still in high school after being told that African American student photographs would be included in the back of the yearbook. After graduating from high school, Fletcher served in World War II under General George Patton and earned a Purple Heart. Fletcher joined the Los Angeles Rams in 1950 and later became the first African American to play for the Baltimore Colts.
Fletcher started in politics in 1954, when he worked on Fred Hall's gubernatorial campaign and took a position working for the Kansas Highway Commission. He took the knowledge of government contracts he gained there to encourage African American businesses to bid on contracts. After moving to Washington, Fletcher worked a number of government jobs, becoming the special assistant to the governor in 1969. That same year, President Richard Nixon appointed Fletcher assistant secretary of wage and labor standards in the Department of Labor. While there, he devised the "Philadelphia Plan," which enforced equal employment and business opportunities for minorities. In 1972, Fletcher joined the United Negro College Fund as executive director and coined its slogan, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Fletcher returned to government service when President Gerald Ford appointed him deputy of urban affairs. In this role, Fletcher came to be known as the father of the affirmative action enforcement movement.
In more recent years, Fletcher was appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 1990, where he served until 1993 as chairman and a commissioner. In 1996, prompted by Senator Bob Dole's reversal of his forty-year affirmative action policy, Fletcher made a run for the presidency. He later became president and CEO of Fletcher's Learning Systems and publisher of USA Tomorrow/The Fletcher Letter.
Fletcher spent a great deal of time touring the country for speaking engagements on equal opportunity rights and the benefits of affirmative action, and served as the chairman of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. He has wrote several articles that have appeared in magazines such as Ebony and Fortune and wrote a book, My Hour of Power.
Fletcher passed away on July 12, 2005. He is survived by his wife, Bernyce.
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