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Scott Walker and the Chris Christie are two Republicans who not long ago were not remotely in the lexicon of political discussion. Neither fit the profile of “articulate and clean” for the Left. For the Right however, these two are superheroes and clear cut defenders of civil rights, about to lay waste to the Legion of Doom.
The Legion of Doom are the unions. Now there are those who would argue that trade unions provide apprenticeships and guarantee better workers, and so on. I disagree. You can find qualified workers without unions. But my problem with unions is not so much about their abilities, it’s about their tactics.
Truth be told, unions tolerate black people, the same as Democrats have. Unions and Democrats corral blacks into a block, because this tactic makes black people easier to wrangle and persuade–to control.
This started back when Republicans freed blacks. A large labor pool emptied out of the South when the slaves were freed, and this posed a serious problem for whites, who were still fighting for their basic workers’ rights.
Black people were used to the most horrible of working conditions, so we didn’t complain much, as memories of beatings or worse were still etched in our psyche.
Blacks were excellent at our jobs too. We were cooks, housekeepers, farmers, ranchers, iron workers. We were carpenters, blacksmiths, and everything else. Emancipation was freedom, but it was also freedom to fail. Black people went into survival mode without many skills to succeed. We were ripe for the picking by unscrupulous employers or unions.
The unions recognized this. This is why they were against the freeing of the slaves. When they couldn’t stop it, the unions put restrictions on blacks’ ability to join unions. To this end, unions were proud racists, putting labels on their products in some cases that read, “Made by proud, white union workers.”
Along the way, black people began carving out their own way, which posed a threat to white unions. One such example is Ben Fletcher, where in 1913 Fletcher became a successful union organizer working with the IWW. Fletcher used the white workers need for better salaries to get humane treatment for blacks. The threat of black workers caused the IWW dockworkers to sponsor anti-racist forums to educate members.
Fletcher’s efforts were successful. By 1916 all but two of Philadelphia’s docks were under IWW control. By 1917 dock workers had won their demand for $0.65 cents per hour versus what the company owners want to pay, $0.25 per hour.
What the unions didn’t want however, were blacks in leadership or going it alone as evidenced in this 1968 letter written by Daniel J. Healy, Regional Director to then president of the AFL-CIO, William Kirchner regarding black union members:
Both in the Zenith campaign and the Donnelley Chicago situation, where large numbers of Negroes are employed, they have a tendency to band together and are lead [sic] by the black power advocates; they seem to think that an organization should be set up for black people, only serviced and lead by black representatives of their own choosing.
Following in the footsteps of the Democrat Party, the union began looking for a few black “leaders” who were willing to sell out the rest. The right “leaders” in place could work wonders. The same is true today.
Take black union leader Senior VP of SEIU Gerry Hudson, for example. In arguing for the unions support of granting amnesty to illegal immigrants, Hudson admitted there is a reasonable groundswell against illegal immigration, and he offers this advice to his union leadership in how to deal with problem union members both black and white:
It doesn’t take a whole lot to argue African Americans, at least to another place…not a whole lot. And I’ve spent not a lot of time doing it, but I’ve had some success. I think we need to spend more time doing it, trying to find out what’s the best ways to get the work done…I think on white workers, I think we’ve got some real problems. I’ve spent a lot of time in Wisconsin and places like that where I have heard some of the most anti-immigrant sentiments around. It’s also, and this is where you get the black workers first…it’s so f*cking rabidly racist…’til black people get scared.
How’s that for proper use of SEIU’s black union members to help control their white union members?
In another example, when the very non-union Wal-Mart wanted to expand in the Chicago area, a coalition of local labor unions promising to withdraw support for any alderman who voted for the measure. Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale was the object of the unions’ wrath.
Wal-Mart’s expansion plans were in area of both high and sustained unemployment, yet union organizers said the retail giant’s wages are inadequate. Veteran political activist and spokeswoman for Good Jobs Chicago Delmarie Cobb said,
The notion that black people should be happy to get any job, I think, is an insult to the black community…As I said to Anthony Beale, slavery was a job.
I’d suggest that Cobb do a bit more research on slavery, because I don’t believe anybody is being forced to work at Wal-Mart, nor do I believe Wal-Mart employees work with a fear of being beaten or killed at the whim of Wal-Mart management. To paraphrase Cobb’s words, that is “an insult to the American community.”
America’s big unions are privy to routine discussions with Obama, most notable being the president of the AFL-CIO chief, though there are many others. Regardless of what union head bends the auspicious ears of Obama, what we do know is the inevitable outcome for America: Union leadership has their way with us and takes our money from the nightstand.
The election of Obama had to make union leaders smile, as they reminisced about their glorious past exploiting blacks. The idea that the nation believes we have a black man in charge continues to bring raucous laughter at the union leadership poker parties and snickers elsewhere.
But as the union bosses smoke their Cuban cigars and drink their 25-year old scotches, liberators lurk. Governors Christie and Walker have joined the civil rights battle that was begun by black Conservatives in 2008. A new civil war has begun, and I believe it will usher in Emancipation II – This time even the white folks will be freed!
That’s my rant!
(c) Kevin Jackson – The Black Sphere, LLC – All Rights Reserved
