Roosevelt put a few Blacks into visible positions in his administration and appointed race relations advisers to some federal departments... recognition of unionization efforts by the administration likely meant that Blacks benefiting from CIO (which adopted a generally non- discriminatory policy in the North) activities would vote Dem... white liberals such as Harold Hopkins, who administered the Federal Emergency Relief Program & the Works Progress Administration, attempted to provide relief and public works on a non-discriminatory basis... Eleanor Roosevelt angered many whites with her public support for Black equality (for example, in 1939, when soprano Marian Anderson was denied use of DC's Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, ER resigned from the organization & arranged an open-air concert at the Lincoln Memorial)...
but, the Roosevelt administration did not enforce minimum wage requirements (established under the National Recovery Act) where Blacks were concerned, African-Americans received less than their proportional share of public assistance, and Blacks were excluded from the Civilian Conservation Corps.. .moreover, many Blacks worked jobs that were not covered by New Deal provisions for minimum wages, unemployment compensation, & social security. ..and FDR refused to support two federal anti-lynching bills, both of which were defeated in Congress...Michael Hoover