Customer Reviews

American Work: Four Centuries of Black and White Labor

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This is a history of working people in American. While it focuses on on Black/white racism has been used, it provides important information about the conditions of all working people since the earliest days of settlement. I found Jones' discussion of attempts to exploit Native Americans as slaves and indentured servants to be particularly illuminated. Jones also talks about the extensive systems of limiting the freedom of working people through contracts of indenture, peonage, and other forms that limited freedom of whites and black as well, as the continued manipulation of the image of what labor Blacks could accomplish to divide workers and deepen the exploitation of all.


While I believe Jones' strength is her discussion of the colonial period and the AnteBellum North, her discussion of the selective urbanization and industrialization of African Americans since World War II is outstanding. She shows how the system of defacto segregation and continued discrimination is the based for African American poverty today.


Most interestingly, she discusses the similarlity between the ways that current immigrants, with and without papers, are oppressed and colonial systems of binding labor.


From this well-documented history, you understand that throughout its history, Capitalism in America has never allowed any real freedom to workers that wasn't taken in struggle, and how crucial racism is to both the past and present of this country.

BEST BOOK ever written, in my experienced opinion. All people craving info. on racial divisions(and aren't we all?) should pick up this classic text. It ingeniously describes the evolution of the working classes in America. And who said work was BORING? Not this kind. This would make the perfect gift for your grandmother, but more importantly, for yourself. A riveting journey into the soul, not to be missed by any history buff. American Work is true to its name, it was written by an American, cause shes gotta work.