User:Mightyevert27/sandbox

During the great depression era, a majority of Americans faced immense economic problems. Most of them lost their jobs and as a result, were forced to live off the margins of society. The lack of a job market allowed many African-Americans to become aware of the racial and social standings they were placed in. Historically, many black workers were segregated and more often than not, racially discriminated in the labor force. In order to combat racism within their respective jobs, they had to establish a union. However many of the unions around the depression era were in white only, and therefore excluded African-American workers from receiving protection and benefits. Alienated from the only institution they sought protection from; many black workers took initiative to unite against racism and classism. By aligning themselves within a community ideology, this belief allowed black and white workers to unite as one: “John P. Davis and Communist Party leader James Ford decided to bring together meaningful organizations that would be dedicated in the ongoing fight against racial discrimination.” Class does not embody one particular race, but transcends racial borders to integrate many ethnic groups alike to face a similar struggle: a class struggle. The foundation of the National Negro Congress is a response of the historical oppression African-Americans faced in this United States, in particular in the workforce. Given that black workers have been historically marginalized in the workforce by being exploited alike from the times when they were a slave, the National Negro Congress advocates for a black liberation through the many sectors of the African-American life. Some of the participants included intellectuals from Howard University, Civic and Civil rights leaders, labor leaders and religious group. White participation was not excluded. Moreover, Black workers who were affiliated with the National Negro Congress advocated from integration of them into the larger and more funded Union like the CIO. Although the CIO supported the foundation of the National Negro Congress to fight for civil rights and against racism, the communist aspect of the Congress deprived both organization from having strong ties to each other: “During the late 1930s and 1940s, despite the efforts of' the Nation al Negro Congress and others, reactionary forces operating in the interest of capital increased their attacks on the CIO. The most backward anti-Communist propaganda was directed at the CIO. This was made more complex by organized labor's positive relationship with Franklin D. Roosevelt and its support of his policy concerning World War 11.” As a result, there was a strong division among those that supported communism and those who only supported civil rights. With the loss of support from the CIO and AFL, African-Americans were forced to be excluded once again from joining a Union. However with the emergence of the National Negro Congress, the African-American community found refuge especially those who identify themselves as communist. Even with having a safe space to discuss about class struggle, Black workers did not have any radical union that took a stand against capital within the race framework. In spite of not having the support of AFL-CIO, they relied upon the militancy and communist led organization Congress. Aside from challenging the concept of racism, members of the National Negro Congress advocated against the fascism abroad and the new deal in the United States. The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt led a huge economic, political and social reform. With the implementation of the new deal, many African-Americans who were once disenfranchised from the political system now elected a new leader whose ideas were seemed as radical. However most of these programs did not have any say or input of the African-American community. Therefore, most of the struggles that were faced for being black in the United States were instantly neglected: “On a whim, Davis attended President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first National Recovery Administration hearing and noticed, in disbelief, that no one represented the interests of African-Americans. He contacted his friend Robert C. Weaver, another Harvard University graduates, and formed the two-man Joint Committee on National Recovery in 1933, challenging Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. The two were determined to become the first full-time lobbyists for civil-rights in American history. They traveled the back roads of the deep and dangerous - for a black man - south investigating lynchings, voting rights violations of black Americans, and the squalid working conditions of black agricultural, textile and factory workers” Furthermore, the new deal only catered to the white community. Since the institution cannot represent the interest or the concerns of the African-American community, the black community from different sectors of the community began to form their own institution to address issues that pertain within the black experience. The significance behind the formation of the National Negro Congress therefore reflects the mere reality African-Americans faced in the United States; receiving equal treatments to their white counterparts and essentially, validates their existence economically, politically and socially. The foundation of the National Negro Congress is therefore a result and a product of resistance used by the oppressed to confront the national government. Self-determination was a concept that was used as agency for protection against racism as explained in the purpose during the first National Negro Congress in February 1936: “The magnitude, complexity, and danger of the Negro’s present condition demands the mobilization of overwhelming mass pressure and force, which can only be achieve through the agency of a National Negro Congress .” Analyzing the current conditions of their own experience in the United States has allowed African-Americans to realize that government institutions were not built to organize and liberate the black community. Politically, the African-American community has been disconnected since the end of the civil war. Even after years after the civil war, many African-Americans who tried to vote and participate in the political system were denied in the voting polls. Deprived from their citizenship and civil rights, African Americans did not have any organization that embodied justice and equality. The main leader, A. Philip Randolph, was instrumental in gathering not only socialists and communist but was able to organize massive popular participation from African-Americans. By struggling against not only racism but capitalism, the leadership under Randolph was able to forge relationship with white workers and intellectuals. Bridging race gaps among black and white workers, the notion of segregation was often challenged. Issues like class brought racial division down because what was at stake was the root of the economic and political turmoil they were placed in: capital and capitalism. But in order to cultivate a change within the workforce, A. Philip Randolph had to cultivate a change through the regulations of the National Negro Congress: “As part of its attempt to bring blacks into the labor movement, the Congress became a leading force for ending the racial restrictions on membership in many unions. In 1934, A. Philip Randolph had urged delegates at the American Federation of Labor convention to order ‘the elimination of the color clause and pledge from the constitution and rituals of all trade and industrial unions’ and the expulsion of all unions which maintained ‘said color bar.’” Racial tension among the workers would ease and if unification were to ever happen, it would be accomplished through the struggle of black and white workers. In addition to the racial division that existed among larger, powerful union was the wage black workers were earning in contrast to the white workers. For example, in the book “the National Negro Congress: A Reassessment” by Lawrence S. Wittner, the author explains the miserable conditions African-Americans workers were put through and with the little amount of pay they received: “Blacks had a crucial position in the emerging struggle, as well as a vital stake in it. In 1936, there were perhaps as many as 85,000 Negro steelworkers- 20 per cent of the laborers and 6 per cents of the operators in the industry. Restricted to the worst jobs, with intense heat and noxious gages, they also encountered a wide network of racially discriminatory differential – averaged $3.60 per day .” The very essence of capitalism is to exploit able-bodies through intensive work that more often not, was dangerous for the worker to work under. Through the commodification of black workers, it allows corporations and even union to perceive these workers as not human but bodies that produce profit. Therefore, the exclusion of black workers into white-dominated unions was used to dehumanize black workers as not white but human. What the National Negro Congress did was perhaps the most radical action any union ever did and that was validate the struggle and existence of Black Americans in the United States, where the rights are often violated by the government itself. However, noticing that the National Negro Congress was drifting into left-wing sectionalism, Randolph once again reinforced the values and tradition of maintaining and prioritizing the black community first above organizations and ideologies: “sensing the drift of the Congress toward left-wing sectarianism, A. Philip Randolph fought back in behalf of its traditional aims of racial integrity and black unity… He rejected Congress affiliation with both major parties, the Communist Party, the Socialist Party and with the Soviet Union: none, he noted, placed the interests of Negroes first”. The interests of numerous radical parties were not founded in the principles of race. As a matter of fact, they only saw class struggle as a problem for Americans. The negligence of race further deprived many African-Americans from amplifying their voice about their experience in the labor-work force. It was something that can be seen as divisive because generally black workers who belonged, if not lower than a poor working class man, to the working class that is considered diversified among its members. Moreover Randolph believed that if the National Negro Congress were to ever be in the dependency of radical and revolutionary party, it should never be subjugated or controlled by the party for their own advantage: “Appealing to the Congress, he asked for a leadership that would be ‘free from intimidation, manipulation or subordination… a leadership which is uncontrolled and responsible to no one but the Negro people.” With no tying to any political affiliation, Randolph wanted the National Negro Congress to be free from any biased decision regarding the African-American struggle. By being independent from any political party, he is creating space of grassroots organizing. The interest of the people should come from the people themselves and that is what is Randolph is imploring. The very act of defiance is resisting. Although he advocated for the integration of black workers to the AFL-CIO, Randolph wanted the National Negro Congress to be a separate entity; a space where black workers from the AFL-CIO can use for their affirmation of their struggle as a black working class. In conclusion, the National Negro Congress validate the plight of the Black experience in the United States. After fighting racism and classism, the Congress ultimately faded off as the years gradually passed. Although the Congress no longer cease to exist, the legacy it left behind was remarkable. By engaging and struggling with different unions and against racism that exists in and out of the work force, Randolph mobilized numerous Black leaders from different sector of society. In essence, the foundation of the National Negro Congress was a radical and revolutionary entity that politicized the African-American community. It led attempts of breaking down racial barriers in factories, schools, etc. and transformed unionism to the African-American community by promoting a critical consciousness within a Marxist theoretical framework. The National Negro Congress served as an institution that not only shaped the identity of the African-American identity as autonomous but also changed the power dynamics within the political life that surround unionism. For the first time in history, African-Americans were able to determine their own conditions even if it is was not that much of a significant change, it still left an impactful way on how African-Americans perceived themselves to a society that serves the interest of White men.