While we are all weary of one bailout after another with our economy sliding deeper into recession, we should not forget the role of organized labor in the development of the Black middle class. One in 10 jobs are connected to the auto industry and for Blacks, especially Northern Blacks, there are deeper and more extensive connections to UAW and our mighty automobile industry. Union jobs still offer the best opportunity for supporting a family for men and women lacking a college education. Looking back a few years, these were the jobs that helped to put a generation of first-time college graduates through school.
Driven by globalization our entire economy is in transition and this is not the time to let such an important industry fail. In addition to the impact on the economy, we are also engaged in two wars with hot spots all over the world. Should we need it, the auto industry can produce equipment essential for national defense. Hopefully we will never need a national mobilization at the WWII level, still it seems that it is better to retain manufacturing capacity than to bet that it will not be needed. We should use our tax dollars to ensure domestic manufacturing capacity if possible.
We should remember the contributions of great leaders like A. Philip Randolph as well as the ordinary Black men and women who paid mortgages, put kids through college, and helped to strengthen our communities. It was GM that provided buses to transport people to the Poor Peoples’ March on Washington not to mention supporting national organizations in significant ways for decades. When you really think about it we should be loyal customers and reject foreign imports. A corporate campaign of this sort is against trade agreements but there is nothing stopping the Black community from advancing our own interests. We can advance “Buy American” and “Unity with UAW,” to do otherwise dishonors the struggle that really helped move us forward.
It is also important to note the phenomenal opportunity that skilled labor provides young adults eager to work, rear families, and become productive citizens. It is a fact that a rising tide lifts all ships, so anything that helps Black America helps all of America.
Let’s do this people. Put our tax dollar to work for Americans who work. Please reject all claims that the current challenge is the fault of overpaid laborers who only struggled to get a fair share of the profit from their labor. Call and email your Congressional Delegation Now.
FeliciaD
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