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

7. AFL Support For Literacy Test

During its 1897 convention, the AFL adopted a resolution supporting the use of a literacy test for would-be immigrants in their native language. Knowing that most of the current immigrants to the US were illiterate, this was a clear way for the labor unions to protect their jobs from said immigrants. The union would keep supporting the idea of a literacy test up until it was finally adopted in 1917.