Bringing Back the Black Working Class

Joe William Trotter, Jr ’s sweeping yet concise book, Workers on Arrival: Black Labor in the Making of America, presents a compelling, highly readable case that African American workers—far from being burden or threat to body politic—have been assets and contributors global capitalist development, urbanization, community political transformation transatlantic slave trade present millennium [ ]of Milwaukee’s initial publication, “working class” as general social category had long since lost currency U S Cold War politics culture officials commentators recast nation prosperous “middle republic against backdrop mid-century economic expansion (At popular level, one many accomplishments “Occupy Wall Street” insurgency 2010s was reasserting class conflict defining feature life ) Then, too, working further obscured discourse “underclass,” an emergent 1970s removed displaced workers any structural relations production Channeling insights scholars like Darlene Clark Hine, Jacqueline Jones, Victoria Wolcott, Leslie Brown, LaShawn Harris, Marne L Campbell, Trotter argues women were crucial actors internal migration black workers, they often circulated out industrial work themselves, well continued carve employment opportunities for others, underground ventures ]these activities—and women’s roles therein—were central “upbuilding” vibrant urban public spheres flourished margins teeming economies racially restrictive housing markets “The explosion postwar government-funded housing, health, education, transportation projects created ‘golden age’ building construction bankers, contractors,” summarizes, “but received few benefits this expansive growth” (p 142)