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When he and his wife arrived in the capital from Chicago, they were angered to learn segregation was deeply embedded in the Washington white mindset, from top to bottom. Even store employees refused to let Mrs. Gibson try on a pair of shoes. But Gibson's time had come; there were stirrings of black awareness on Capitol Hill as President Roosevelt, repairing the damage left by Hoover, was gearing up for his third term and leaning on the black and liberal vote.

Gibson marshalled black opinion makers in the media but felt powerless sometimes in trying to shift perceptions in society at large. As America stirred itself to fight fascism, at home its citizens were prepared to countenance all manner of segregation, from shoe shops in Washington to schools and buses in Alabama, and all the way through the military, where Negro-only units were still in place.

Gibson wanted to change attitudes but came up against brick walls everywhere. “The army is not a sociological laboratory,” the chief of staff, General George C. Marshall, told Gibson when he pointed out the many anomalies he discovered. But Truman persisted. He listened and learned. And argued. He walked out on intransigent opponents to his initiatives. Gently, he twisted arms. He even succeeded in getting blacks into the Air Force, long considered a bastion of whiteness and privilege. It was a small victory, but a significant one.