The Color of Work
The Struggle for Civil Rights in the Southern Paper Industry, 1945-1980
Timothy J. Minchin
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 01/2003
Pages: 296
Subject: Political Science, Social Science
| University of North Carolina
Print ISBN: 9.78E+12
eBook ISBN: 9780807875483
DESCRIPTION
Minchin describes how jobs in the southern paper industry were strictly segregated prior to the 1960s, with black workers confined to low-paying, menial positions. All work literally had a color: every job was racially designated and workers were represented by segregated local unions. Though black workers tried to protest workplace inequities through their unions, their efforts were largely ineffective until passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act opened the way for scores of antidiscrimination lawsuits. Even then, however, resistance from executives and white workers ensured that the fight to integrate the paper industry was a long and difficult one.