History of the African American Worker

Catalog description

African-American workers have had a profound effect on U.S. labor and its history. This course will examine the transformation of the African-American working class from the post-Civil War period through the late twentieth-century. African American workers and their community organizations played an integral role in shaping the American working class experience from the maturing industrial period through post-industrial period of U.S. history. We will analyze the changing relationship between capital and labor, employers and employees while evaluating the shifting meanings of “owners” and “workers” over time. Through the lenses of race, gender, and sexuality we will also analyze the developments in African American working-class culture and politics.