Conflict of Interests: Organized Labor and the Civil Rights Movement in the South, 1954-1968 (Cornell Studies in Industrial and Labor Relations) [Paperback]

Alan Draper (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This history of the American Civil Rights movement in the South takes a different approach than most, examining the influences of organized labor efforts which were also taking place at the time. Enjoy a fine contribution which provides new material on the politics affecting labor influences on civil rights efforts. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 234 pages
• Publisher: Ilr Pr (May 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875463169
• ISBN-13: 978-0875463162
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,298,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Tensions between Union Leaders and Members in Struggle for Civil Rights in the South, August 28, 2011

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This review is from: Conflict of Interests: Organized Labor and the Civil Rights Movement in the South, 1954-1968 (Cornell Studies in Industrial and Labor Relations) (Paperback)

Alan Draper illuminates the role organized labor played in the southern civil rights movement. He documents the substantial support the AFL-CIO and its southern state councils gave to the struggle for black equality, suggesting that labor's political leadership recognized an opportunity in the civil rights movement. Frustrated in their efforts to organize the South, labor leaders understood the potential of newly enfranchised blacks to challenge conservative southern Democrats.

At the same time, white union members in the south were more interested in defending their racial privileges than in allying themselves with blacks. An explosive tension developed between labor's political leadership, desperate to create a party system in the South that included blacks, and a rank and file determined to preserve southern Democracy by excluding blacks. This book looks at the ways that tension was expressed and ultimately resolved with the southern labor movement.