A study into the history of Southern Labor Unions with an emphasis on race and gender
$6.95
social sciences
presentation
published 17/07/2008
review : Completed
level : General public
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In David Roedigers Wages of Whiteness, the reader is introduced to the author by an autobiographical introduction that paints the picture of a white adolescent growing up in the turbulent South. The author tells of his experiences with race in a small southern town near St. Louis where locals would rather close a swimming pool than integrate it with African Americans. With this uncommon personal introduction, the author sets up a study examining the growth of the white worker and how they developed their whiteness and the actions they took to make sure their identity was kept separate from the black worker. In his introduction Roediger sums up what his early life taught him in the role of race in defining how white workers looks not only at Blacks but at themselves; the pervasiveness of race; the complex mixture of hate, sadness and longing in the racist thought of white workers; the relationship between race and ethnicity.
Table of Contents
- Roediger's study into race and class in the nineteenth century.
- Roediger's book - Formation of concept of whiteness and white supremacy.
- The story of Thomas Watkins.
- Honey's book and the emergence of organized labor unions in Memphis.
- Neil Foley's The White Scourge an examination of the cotton culture in centra Texas.
- Foley on plights and efforts of women living on cotton farms.
- The AFL and CIO.
