Honey Chapter Summaries

Honey’s book is important in helping us understand the dynamics of the working class life and struggles of the African American community during the Civil Rights era. It also offers some insight into the development of the labor movement in Memphis, TN. In the 1930s and 40s, African American workers began organizing under the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The CIO was important for the African American workers because it addressed issues of race discrimination in the workplace and in the labor movement. They also challenged the administration of E.H. Crump, a political machine that was responsible for the unfair treatment and degradation of the African American community. Through steadfast commitment to the cause and numerous obstacles,

Honey discusses one major issue of organizing in the South—self organization among African Americans. Prior to the support of the CIO, Memphis African Americans had a hard time organizing. This was largely due to the fact that they were black and they were poor. Honey noted that a black family’s income was around one-third of a white family's income. They were not only facing issues like school segregation and other overt racisms; they were also facing job and income disparities. They were struggling to not only find jobs, but find jobs with wages high enough to support their families. There weren't any black supervisors or other black workers with seniority and influence at the time that could assist other black workers. They were essentially at the mercy of white workers, white leaders, and white unions. White workers simply did not want Blacks in their unions. Despite their efforts, blacks were viewed as unorganized and unskilled and Whites wanted to hang on to their prestige and not "taint" their unions by

The Communists party created a new group of leaders among blacks and whites. These leaders understood that there were common struggles among them, so they attempted to fight for each other as opposed to against each other. African Americans and poor whites were drawn to the communist party because they were taught to read, write, and they were also taught the dynamics of union organization. Honey notes, “the party in particular served as an educational vehicle for workers, especially African Americans who had been denied adequate formal schooling” (126). This building up of the people essentially led to the building up of the union movement. Once anti-communist fears began running rampant in the city, the Communist Party and the CIO were no longer able to work together in an attempt to influence the greater good of the people. Honey states, “Union opponents everywhere condemned strikes in armaments-related industries as the work of ‘fifth columnists,’ equating fascism with communism and communism with labor and civil rights activism” (145-146). Soon prominent union activists were being placed on the “red list” for allegedly possessing Communist tendencies (146). Though Communist workers were more than willing to stand and fight with the unions, union leaders made the decision to no longer ally with