The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1940-01-27

on earth. All
three are fundamental. and with
out either Of the three, the life Of
a people is incomplete.
At the present stage Of advarce-
ment of the Negro in America, he
can only count on labor as the basic
means OF his material existence;
for, neither does he own the land
he walks upon and gives him life;
nor. has he been schooled suffi-
GENTLY in economics to have de-
veloPed the adequate Intelligence
20 know what to do with the prod
ucts Of his labor, In the field of
economics, the Negro in America is
fundamentally a laborer, and a
marginal one at that It is in this
particular field that we want to dis
russ him in this and the next two
or three instruments.
However. in order to get better
picture of his position In the field
+ labor, let US review briefly the
historical background of the labor
movement in America. with par
ticular emphasis on organized labor
as the most effective instrument Of
he workingman for the betterment
Of his condition; and, let us also
discuss the sociological aspect of
organized labor in its relation to
the American Negro. Only in this
manrer can we get a better idea
Of what the Negro may expect as
his economic future in America,
7ased on the only major asset that
he has 10 offer to American econ
omy: his labor.
The history OF the organized
labor movement in America dates
from the earliest awakening OF the
consciousness Of the workingman i'll
America as a separate and distinct
class from the capitalist ard the
industrialist. This awakening of the
consciousness Of the workingman as
a class all to himself and with an
interest exclusively his own can
te traced to the early part OF the
nineteenth century, with the evolu-
ton Of the workshop into the factory
system. The shoemaker, for instatce,
who had started with a small shop,
md through his ingenuity and
thrift had developed a trade that
necessitated the hiring of other
shoemakers in order to meet the.
demand OF his customers. and had
forced him off the workbench SO
that he could attend to purchase
Of materials, handling OF the cash
or credit and to attend to the de-
livery and marketing Of his product
mad emerged from the stage of a
workingman and had developed
himself into an industrialist and a
fnancier, and instead of owning a
shop, he now owned a factory. 1t
was while America was going
through this period of economic
evolution and transition that this
country met the dawn OF the nine
tenth century.
With the arousing and the de-
velopment Of class consciousness in
the hearts and minds OF the men
who had been left below still labor
ng at the workbench in the factory,
there also developed the necessity
Of organization among themselves
Tor the purpose of protecting their
particular interests as workers as
against the interests and oppressive
treatment Of the industrialist and
hnancier class. They chose a po-
iitical medium. and to this end in
1929 there was organized in New
York City the Working-Mens Party,
1icknamed The Dirty Shirts" OF
which the moving spirit was a me-
chanic by the name Of Thomas
skinner. With him were also ascot
tied Miss Frances Wright, a noisy
;he-man and rabble-rouser. and
Robert Dale owen, a communistic-
minded visionary Of that day An
drew Jackson cold Hickory') was
tltslutllAt anu III bllG huA bhANllNN VI
the politics of that day. anybody
who wanted to belong TO the Work.
ing-Men's Party could do so, since
what really counted for strength
was votes, and the vote of black
man was just as valuable in the
final counting as the vote of white
worker. Many free Negroes be-
longed to the Working-Men's Party
and voted for it. The slaves, of
course. rad no vote. But the radical
IDEAS OF Miss Wright and of Owen,
and the depression OF 1887 killed
he Working-Men Party, and it
vent THE way Of all flesh"
This unmerciful and uncere-
monious death Of the Working
Mems Party brought about a de-
pressing feeling, nationally, in the
franks OF labor, ard for several years
organized labor was limited 10 local