Pullman Porters and the Rise of Protest Politics in Black America, 1925-1945 (The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture)

Between World War I and World War II, African Americans' quest for civil rights took on a more aggressive character as a new group of black activists challenged the politics of civility traditionally embraced by old-guard leaders in favor of a more forceful protest strategy. Beth Tompkins Bates traces the rise of this new protest politics--which was grounded in making demands and backing them up with collective action--by focusing on the struggle of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) to form a union in Chicago, headquarters of the Pullman Company. Bates shows how the BSCP overcame initial opposition from most of Chicago's black leaders by linking its union message with the broader social movement for racial equality. As members of BSCP protest networks mobilized the black community around the quest for manhood rights and economic freedom, they broke down resistance to organized labor even as they expanded the boundaries of citizenship to include equal economic opportunity. By the mid-1930s, BSCP protest networks gained platforms at the national level, fusing Brotherhood activities first with those of the National Negro Congress and later with the March on Washington Movement. Lessons learned during this era guided the next generation of activists, who carried the black freedom struggle forward after World War II. Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Abbreviations 13 Introduction 17 1. No More Servants in the House 31 2. The Politics of Paternalism and Patronage in Black Chicago 54 3. Biting the Hand That Feeds Us 77 4. Launching a Social Movement, 1928-1930 101 5. Forging Alliances 133 6. New-Crowd Networks and the Course of Protest Politics, 1935-1940 152 7. We Are Americans, Too 174 8. Protest Politics Comes of Age 201 Notes 215 Bibliography 269 Index 291 Focusing on the struggle of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP), to form a union in Chicago (HQ of the Pullman Company), this work charts the quest of African Americans for civil rights in the inter-war period. New ground was broken by backing up demands with collective action. Shortly after the Civil War, when George Mortimer Pullman revolutionized intercity travel with his Pullman sleeping cars, he consciously recruited recently freed slaves for the position of porter. Examines The Brotherhood Of Sleeping Car Porters (bscp) As A Social Movement, Discussing The New Black Working-class Radicalism Of The Time And Labor Union's Efforts To Confront Discrimination.