Civil Rights Unionism

Tobacco Workers and the Struggle for Democracy in the Mid-Twentieth-Century South

Business & Finance, Career Planning & Job Hunting, Labor, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Civil Rights, Social Science, Cultural Studies, African-American Studies
Cover of the book Civil Rights Unionism by Robert R. Korstad, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Robert R. Korstad ISBN: 9780807862520
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: November 20, 2003
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Robert R. Korstad
ISBN: 9780807862520
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: November 20, 2003
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

Drawing on scores of interviews with black and white tobacco workers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Robert Korstad brings to life the forgotten heroes of Local 22 of the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers of America-CIO. These workers confronted a system of racial capitalism that consigned African Americans to the basest jobs in the industry, perpetuated low wages for all southerners, and shored up white supremacy.

Galvanized by the emergence of the CIO, African Americans took the lead in a campaign that saw a strong labor movement and the reenfranchisement of the southern poor as keys to reforming the South--and a reformed South as central to the survival and expansion of the New Deal. In the window of opportunity opened by World War II, they blurred the boundaries between home and work as they linked civil rights and labor rights in a bid for justice at work and in the public sphere.

But civil rights unionism foundered in the maelstrom of the Cold War. Its defeat undermined later efforts by civil rights activists to raise issues of economic equality to the moral high ground occupied by the fight against legalized segregation and, Korstad contends, constrains the prospects for justice and democracy today.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Drawing on scores of interviews with black and white tobacco workers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Robert Korstad brings to life the forgotten heroes of Local 22 of the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers of America-CIO. These workers confronted a system of racial capitalism that consigned African Americans to the basest jobs in the industry, perpetuated low wages for all southerners, and shored up white supremacy.

Galvanized by the emergence of the CIO, African Americans took the lead in a campaign that saw a strong labor movement and the reenfranchisement of the southern poor as keys to reforming the South--and a reformed South as central to the survival and expansion of the New Deal. In the window of opportunity opened by World War II, they blurred the boundaries between home and work as they linked civil rights and labor rights in a bid for justice at work and in the public sphere.

But civil rights unionism foundered in the maelstrom of the Cold War. Its defeat undermined later efforts by civil rights activists to raise issues of economic equality to the moral high ground occupied by the fight against legalized segregation and, Korstad contends, constrains the prospects for justice and democracy today.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Two Captains from Carolina by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book Shattering the Glass by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book A Saint of Our Own by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book Alien Nation by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book A History of Family Planning in Twentieth-Century Peru by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam, 1960-1975 by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book Cabins in the Laurel by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book Econocide by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book The Roots of Modern Conservatism by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book War! What Is It Good For? by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book Rivers of Gold, Lives of Bondage by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book Electra and the Empty Urn by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book Down and Out in the Great Depression by Robert R. Korstad
Cover of the book Pauli Murray and Caroline Ware by Robert R. Korstad
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy