Jennifer Wells

The Black Freedom Struggle and Civil Rights Labor Organizing: the Piedmont and Eastern North Carolina Tobacco Industry Jennifer Wells

Much of the history of the United States included the exploitation of the ?other.? For centuries, African American labor was blatantly misused and abused to help construct the ?great white nation? of America. From slavery, through the post-emancipation era, and well into the twentieth century, African Americans have faced widespread racism and discrimination, including segregation, disenfranchisement, lynching, inequalities in housing, health care, jobs and wages. Nevertheless, throughout these years, there is a long history of black protest in pursuit of full freedom and self-determination, among other goals. Despite serious challenges to their inclusion for several decades, labor organizing by black workers proved to be a useful avenue to challenge race based degradation. In this study, the term ?civil rights labor organizing? represents the collective efforts of black workers to better working conditions and obtain the guaranteed rights of American citizenship.