Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 232
Trim: 6¼ x 9¼
978-1-4422-0332-7 • Hardback • September 2013 • $77.00 • (£59.00)
978-1-4422-4861-8 • Paperback • March 2015 • $36.00 • (£30.00)
978-1-4422-0333-4 • eBook • September 2013 • $34.00 • (£25.00)
Steven A. Reich (PhD, Northwestern) is associate professor of history at James Madison University and the editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration.
Introduction
Chronology
Chapter One
Emancipation and the Politics of Black Labor
Chapter Two
Jim Crow’s Black Workers
Chapter Three
The Great Black Labor Migration
Chapter Four
A New Deal for Black Workers
Chapter Five
The Black Working-Class Movement for Civil Rights
Chapter Six
Opening the American Workplace
Documents
Selected Bibliography
The title and subtitle of this book say it all. This concisely written history of African American workers recounts the slow progress and many reversals of a people willing to work but consistently denied access to decent working conditions, decent remuneration, vocational education, and the opportunity to advance on the job. In short, it is the story of a people denied the American Dream. Reich (James Madison Univ.; author of Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration, 2006) divides the time line for his work into the post-Civil War era; the introduction of Jim Crow and the resurgence of white supremacy; the migration from the agrarian South to the industrial North; the Depression and WW II; post-WW II and Korea: and the trials and struggles of the civil rights era. A subtheme of the book is the rise and diminution of the economic rights of America's working class. Nothing of note is lacking from Reich's account. This work is a perfect supplement for classes in race and ethnicity, labor history, and diversity. Of special interest is the 'Documents' section, which contains contemporaneous narratives and interviews of those who watched these events transpire. Excellent notes and a selected bibliography. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels of undergraduate students; general readers.
— Choice Reviews
In this masterful synthesis, Reich shines the spotlight on African Americans as workers seeking racial and economic justice in the century and a half since the abolition of slavery. More than a labor history, Reich shows how the impulse to make a living and a life as equal and full participants in American society has been intimately connected to the larger black freedom movement. This clearly written, accessible history helps explain why the struggle for racial economic equality is not over.
— Beth T. Bates, Professor Emerita, Wayne State University