Top 10 Examples of Racism in History of the American Labor Movement

2. Davis-Bacon Act (1934)

In reaction to the movement of African-Americans away from the Jim Crow laws of the south, an awful law was born. Named for the two congressmen who passed it in 1934, The Davis-Bacon Act was passed expressly to keep low-skilled African-American workers out of federal construction projects. The law set arbitrary labor wage scales so that black craftsmen could no longer under price their white counter parts. Harry Alford, President and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce has said, “With the price competition out of the way, the whites moved in through political favor and blatant racism.  This would be followed with Project Labor Agreements which meant some projects would be declared “Union Only”.  With the construction unions discriminating against Blacks, would also mean “Whites Only”.”

As Alford explains, this law is essentially a “whites only” plan for labor, a seemingly outdated thought right? Wrong, as the current AFL-CIO is still working to protect this law.