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Race, Labor Unions, and American Political Development in the 20th Century
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Race, Labor Unions, and American Political Development in the 20th Century Paul Frymer University of California, San Diego ## email not listed ## DRAFT COPY: PLEASE DO NOT CITE WITHOUT PERMISSION OF AUTHOR Abstract: Between 1935 and 1985, the number of African Americans in labor unions increased from an estimated 50,000 to more than three million. This paper focuses on the federal effort to promote civil rights in the labor movement, and in particular, the halting, fragmented pace of this effort. I argue that efforts to deflect racial politics from state building in the 1930s led to serious gaps in the National Labor Relations Board’s reach and broad consequences for the future power and influence of labor unions in national politics. In particular, because the NLRB failed to address union racism, it later found its mission subsumed by other agencies and federal court activism. In part the result of fragmented institutions that led different agencies to work at cross-purposes, and in part the result of a reliance on individual court litigation that imposed great financial costs on unions, I argue that this policy effort resulted in unintended consequences for both labor unions and civil rights groups. In conclusion, I argue that incorporating race into our understanding of labor politics leads us to reconsider whether the passage of pro-labor legislation in the 1930s was as fundamental to U.S. state building as it is sometimes characterized or whether it prompted just another half-step in the slow and halting movement towards liberal democracy.
For presentation at the American Political Science Association Meetings, Philadelphia PA, 2003.
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Race, Labor Unions, and American Political Development in the 20th Century
Paul Frymer
University of California, San Diego
## email not listed ##
DRAFT COPY: PLEASE DO NOT CITE WITHOUT PERMISSION OF AUTHOR
Abstract:
Between 1935 and 1985, the number of African Americans in labor unions increased from an
estimated 50,000 to more than three million. This paper focuses on the federal effort to promote
civil rights in the labor movement, and in particular, the halting, fragmented pace of this effort. I
argue that efforts to deflect racial politics from state building in the 1930s led to serious gaps in
the National Labor Relations Board’s reach and broad consequences for the future power and
influence of labor unions in national politics. In particular, because the NLRB failed to address
union racism, it later found its mission subsumed by other agencies and federal court activism. In
part the result of fragmented institutions that led different agencies to work at cross-purposes, and
in part the result of a reliance on individual court litigation that imposed great financial costs on
unions, I argue that this policy effort resulted in unintended consequences for both labor unions
and civil rights groups. In conclusion, I argue that incorporating race into our understanding of
labor politics leads us to reconsider whether the passage of pro-labor legislation in the 1930s was
as fundamental to U.S. state building as it is sometimes characterized or whether it prompted just
another half-step in the slow and halting movement towards liberal democracy.
For presentation at the American Political Science Association Meetings, Philadelphia PA, 2003.
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