Читать книгу Corporations Compassion Culture - Keesa C. Schreane - Страница 26

The entire history of working-while-Black offers example after example of why Black people continue to feel unwelcome in the workplace and/or skeptical of White management. From the beginning, the working world has been treacherous waters for Blacks specifically, who could experience oppression, violence, or even death for just trying to do their jobs. It can be tempting to wave away this history, declaring that the working world has changed—that, in particular, working-while-Black has changed. But the history of injustice in working-while-Black hasn't gone away. The reality is that distrust, abuse, and violence in the workplace is a part of a larger legacy. To deal with the present lack of compassion, equality, and inclusion at work, we must understand its origins. Knowledge of the past will help us steer toward a better future for business culture.

The first Americans to work-while-Black were of course the enslaved people kidnapped from their homes in Africa and brought to our shores under some of the most horrific conditions imaginable. But the end of slavery did not mean the end of the exploitation of Black labor. As noted by W.E.B. DuBois, “the slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery.” Violence toward and exploitation of the Black labor force dates back to the 19th century. It began as soon as the slaves were set free and benefited the overall national economy. When the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, it said there should be no slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for those convicted of a crime. In the South, an economy devastated by civil war, some White citizens responded by adopting forced labor as punishment for petty crimes or crimes that were vague and subjective. This was an early example of how some in power redefined the law to benefit themselves, demonstrating egregious ethical conduct. Further, some states and entities subjugated Blacks through intimidation and the use of disposable labor: as many as 200,000 Black Americans were forced into back-breaking work in factories and mines, living in subhuman conditions, starved, beaten, flogged, and sexually violated. They died by the thousands.¹

The Black Codes, established during the Reconstruction era, involved granting Blacks certain freedoms such as buying and owning property, marrying, and making contracts and court testimonies (involving other Blacks only). But the central aim was to restrict Black labor. Penalties for breaking labor contracts included arrest, beatings, and forced labor. All-White police and state militia forces throughout the South doled out these harsh punishments.

The Black Codes exemplify the dangers of working-while-Black, or even attempting to do so, dating back to the late 19th century. In essence, these systems were created to reinstitutionalize freed people and the newly established Black workforce under the auspices of incarceration. The Black Codes give context into just how difficult it was for Blacks to enter the official paid workforce, even after emancipation from slavery. In Chapter 1, we talked about how White workers in the steel industry faced dangerous workplace conditions. But Black workers in the South dealt with an even more sinister reality.

Even after slavery Black workers had to figure out how to best advocate for themselves, because it wasn't clear that their work and their labor power would be respected or valued. Even the most basic idea of getting the wages that you earned at the end of the day was something that Black workers always had to worry about. All of those concerns have created a legacy about anecdotes about unfair wage practices and racism. All these have required Black people to be really vigilant in the workplace.

—Dr. Marcia Chatelain, associate professor, Department of History, American Studies Program at Georgetown University, and author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America²