Bill Fletcher Jr: Race and Labor- A More Just Economy
Channel: Ed Mays
Date: 2020-06-11

In this talk, acclaimed labor educator and writer Bill Fletcher Jr. enlightens us with some little known history of how racism has been used since Europeans first came to the western world to control the working class. This analysis illuminates precisely why Capitalism cannot exist without racism. Contrary to what many may think, the concept of “white” which did not previously exist was invented for this purpose, and did not necessarily refer to skin color. The first Africans were brought over as indentured servants and became chattel slaves only later as the American caste system evolved.

This explains why organized labor needs to develop a robust counter narrative to that offered by right-wing populism [which it hasn’t so far] if it is to make any headway against the divide and rule strategy of the “owners” [Gore Vidal]. The labor movement must integrate racial justice into every area of organizing if it wishes to regain its role as a relevant agent of social and economic justice.

Bill Fletcher, Jr. became an activist at age 13, participating in the Black Panther Party and organizing rallies and events. He is Executive Editor of BlackCommentator.com and a leader of Democratic Socialists of America. Fletcher is co-founder of the Center for Labor Renewal and is the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum. He is the co-author of Solidarity Divided, which analyzes the crisis in organized labor in the US.

Thanks to the University of Oregon Office of Equity and Inclusion, UO Portland, UO Labor Education and Research Center, Oregon Tradeswomen, UO Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, United Academics of the University of Oregon, and SEIU Local 503

Recorded February 21, 2018 by Pirate TV contributor Todd Boyle
All views are those of the speaker and not necessarily those of the sponsors.

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