Sunday, July 12, 2009
White House enslaved construction workers
The White House is preparing to honor the black slaves of men who built this international symbol of democracy. A memorial of sandstone blocks will stand as a dedication to the men who were whipped and beaten into building a caricature of Greek democracy.
In the anti-bellum era of our country's history, black men did most of the skilled and unskilled labor in America. Skilled black men like Frederick Douglas, brought their freedom with extra money earned from their trade. When white men realized the income potential earned as a carpenter, bricklayer, painter, or stagehand; they blacklisted blacks from these jobs by organizing themselves into segregated labor unions. Through intimidation and manipulation, employers could no longer hire the best-qualified tradesmen, but were restricted to using white union tradesmen for construction and manufacturing jobs. Even today, these guilds are secret societies with restrictive membership.
The stone grave marker for black tradesmen who built the Capital building, should also mark the end of skilled black labor. Unions restrict the same black labor from working on the Urban Leagues new building. It is ironic that an organization dedicated to training and employing black men for jobs was unable to secure employment for black men to help build their own building. My deep throat source tells me that concrete plans for the building have been in discussion for three years, and efforts to secure skilled employment for its underemployed and underpaid constituents were continually ignored.
An urban league representative offered the old racist adage that now was not the time to distract contractors with pleas for job equality at tax supported job sites. Martin Luther King said about equality, if the past was not the right time, and now is not the right time, when is the time to ask for the rights and privileges that every American rightfully deserves since the dawn of this country. With the construction new building, the Urban League passed up an opportunity to guarantee training for the trades. Maybe the contractor that is an advent donation to the urban league got the job to build the building if his donations made up for not hiring black men on the job. This nefarious act of betrayal is not unheard of in the world of deceitful lobbyist and conniving politicians. This is not the first time middle class representatives of the black community have forsaken the needs of the black working class.
The 100 middle class Black Men of Madison, black ministers, and black politicians are notorious for undermining the social desires and economic needs of poor working blacks. After 100 years of NAACP and 50 years of Urban League interaction for civil rights, only token examples of success have materialized. Examples of ineptitude include...
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