Answer to Question #277515 in History for bigzz

Question

 

Answer the following by drawing on the film (and for extra credit points - the secondary source by James Grossman, “The White Man’s Union” which provided some of the historical research for the film):

 

 

1.  What caused the riot?

 

 

2.  What did the migrants hope to find in the north?  

 

 

3.  How did the various characters relate to the union? Did they resist white supremacy?  How? 

Frank Custer

Heavy Williams

Thomas 

Mr. Cheeks (Y, Urban League) 

Miss Lila (letter writer)

Robert Bedford

 

 

4. Compare the experiences of Polish immigrants and black migrants at the packing house and with the union. Why was the union a "white man's union" and how did historical circumstance keep it that way making it difficult for black workers to join?

 

 

5. How did wartime change the relationship of the federal government with the packing houses, the union and the workers? 

 

Answer 1

1) Race Prejudice

2)

After the civil war and the Reconstruction era, racial inequality continued across the South during the 1870s, and the segregationist policies are known as “Jim Crow” soon became the law of the land. Southern Black people were forced to make their living working the land due to the Black codes and the sharecropping system, which offered little in terms of economic opportunity especially after crop damage resulting from a regional boll weevil infestation in the 1890s and early 1900s. Even after the dissolution of Ku Klux Klan, intimidation, violence, and lynching of Black southerners continued. The migrants to the North wanted to supply industrial labor to the urban areas of the North, Midwest, and West and also find better living conditions but it was not the case as the working conditions were arduous and dangerous. Female migrants also found it difficult to secure domestic labor positions.

3) How the following related to the Union

Frank Custer- he resisted by forming a union with Bill Bremer

Heavy Williams – He resisted by organizing for strikes. He believed that as long as workers are united, their demands can be met.

Thomas – He supported by being the leader of the United Labor party.

 Mr. Cheeks –He resisted  

Miss Lila – She resisted

Robert – He supported by campaigning of the conference for Progressive Political Action.

4) Experience of Polish immigrants and Black migrants

Polish immigrants experienced imperial repression, land shortages, and chronic unemployment which made life more difficult and they had to leave for America while the black migrants began to build new places for themselves in public life and actively confronted racial prejudice as well as economic, political, and social challenges to create a Black urban culture that would exert enormous influence. They were referred to as the white man’s union because they were formed in the wake of reconstruction to maintain White control in county elections in areas that had large Black populations and they limited only the white voters to cast votes.

5) How wartime changed the relationship of the federal government with the packing houses, the union, and the workers

In the 1930s the nation slid towards the great depression and the future of organized labor seemed bleak. The federal government acted as a strikebreaker and pleaded for peace and address workers' concerns.