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Later studies expanded on the devastating impact of slavery and racial exclusion in labor unions ... more Later studies expanded on the devastating impact of slavery and racial exclusion in labor unions and were more critical of capitalism and its effects on Black Americans. Social scientists, Sterling Spero and Abram Harris, for instance, argued that the discrimination African American workers faced in industry was a product of slavery, and was maintained and perpetuated by organized labor. Economist Robert C. Weaver also indicted the slave system for the condition of Black workers by arguing that their position at the bottom of the economic hierarchy was due to a set of historical and contemporary conditions in the context of a defective capitalist economy. In Organized Labor and the Negro, Herbert Northrup, studied the policies of various industries and concluded that their racial policies depended upon their location. Labor historian, Philip S. Foner, on the other hand, lambasted union leadership for its pattern of racist policies. Similar to Spero and Harris, Foner concluded that union leaders were hypocritical and made empty promises to African American workers. To varying degrees, all of these works focused on the complex interaction of Black workers and established valuable groundwork for contextualizing their lives within the larger socioeconomic and political framework. 4 During the 1960s, a new group of labor historians shifted the focus from labor organizations and paid closer attention to working class communities. Lead by historian Herbert
The Journal of American History, Jun 1, 2019
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Oct 1, 2022
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1998-)
The Specter of Black Labor is interested in examining the actions, reactions and opinions of Afro... more The Specter of Black Labor is interested in examining the actions, reactions and opinions of Afro-Illinoisans during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in relation to their own position as laborers. While previous studies on Black workers in Illinois focus heavily on African Americans and their relationship to the larger labor movement of this period, the goal in this project is to view these workers primarily through the lens of the African American experience. By deemphasizing the role of white workers and the labor movement in general, this project seeks to unearth previously muffled voices within the relatively small Black communities throughout Illinois during the largely understudied period prior to the Great Migration. By utilizing a racial formation theoretical framework, this project seeks to provide a foundation for a critical examination of race as it acquires different meanings, depending on specific historic circumstances. The contention here is that the ...
The Journal of African American History, 2019
Later studies expanded on the devastating impact of slavery and racial exclusion in labor unions ... more Later studies expanded on the devastating impact of slavery and racial exclusion in labor unions and were more critical of capitalism and its effects on Black Americans. Social scientists, Sterling Spero and Abram Harris, for instance, argued that the discrimination African American workers faced in industry was a product of slavery, and was maintained and perpetuated by organized labor. Economist Robert C. Weaver also indicted the slave system for the condition of Black workers by arguing that their position at the bottom of the economic hierarchy was due to a set of historical and contemporary conditions in the context of a defective capitalist economy. In Organized Labor and the Negro, Herbert Northrup, studied the policies of various industries and concluded that their racial policies depended upon their location. Labor historian, Philip S. Foner, on the other hand, lambasted union leadership for its pattern of racist policies. Similar to Spero and Harris, Foner concluded that union leaders were hypocritical and made empty promises to African American workers. To varying degrees, all of these works focused on the complex interaction of Black workers and established valuable groundwork for contextualizing their lives within the larger socioeconomic and political framework. 4 During the 1960s, a new group of labor historians shifted the focus from labor organizations and paid closer attention to working class communities. Lead by historian Herbert
The Journal of American History, Jun 1, 2019
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Oct 1, 2022
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1998-)
The Specter of Black Labor is interested in examining the actions, reactions and opinions of Afro... more The Specter of Black Labor is interested in examining the actions, reactions and opinions of Afro-Illinoisans during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in relation to their own position as laborers. While previous studies on Black workers in Illinois focus heavily on African Americans and their relationship to the larger labor movement of this period, the goal in this project is to view these workers primarily through the lens of the African American experience. By deemphasizing the role of white workers and the labor movement in general, this project seeks to unearth previously muffled voices within the relatively small Black communities throughout Illinois during the largely understudied period prior to the Great Migration. By utilizing a racial formation theoretical framework, this project seeks to provide a foundation for a critical examination of race as it acquires different meanings, depending on specific historic circumstances. The contention here is that the ...
The Journal of African American History, 2019