Walter Reuther: Address before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Reuther is best known for his role as a labor leader. However, he actively participated in the civil rights movement and spoke at the 1963 March on Washington. Reuther was a member of the board of directors of the NAACP and advocated the creation of a fair employment practices commission in Michigan. This excerpt from Reuther's speech at the 1957 convention of the NAACP illustrates his oft-used technique of highlighting the common ground between American labor and his audience, casting whatever obstacles his listeners face as broader challenges that they and the UAW together can overcome. Reuther liberally uses references to the morality and patriotism of the UAW and the NAACP, depicting black Americans and American laborers as agents of social change.

Reuther invokes a religious tone early in the speech, describing the NAACP's cause as a “crusade” in which all are “blessed” to participate. He then notes the war effort of the automobile industry, describing it as a fight against totalitarianism. Reuther mentions the Detroit race riot of 1943, one of several violent racial disturbances that took place in industrial areas during World War II. Job opportunities in areas such as Detroit encouraged southern blacks to migrate north, and the resulting influx of large numbers of African Americans led to growing conflict in what was then a segregated society. The Detroit riot lasted three days, causing hundreds of injuries, thirty-four deaths, and substantial property damage. Reuther contrasts this racial violence with the camaraderie inside the factory, although racial tension existed in the workplace as well. Black workers were among the strongest supporters of the UAW, particularly in Detroit, and there were often disputes among old-line white union workers and the newer black members.

Reuther emphasizes the “solidarity of human brotherhood” in organized labor but does not ignore the reality of discrimination in the factory. He blames not racial tension between workers, however, but the employers. He refers to contract language prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race; in 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt had created the Fair Employment Practices Committee, which outlawed racial discrimination in the defense industry. After Roosevelt's death in 1945, the committee had less support in Congress; despite President Harry S. Truman's backing, in 1950 southern senators blocked legislation that would have continued the committee. Thus, employment discrimination was a major issue for the NAACP and the UAW in 1957, when Reuther gave this address; he calls for the matter to be taken up in “the halls of Congress.”

Reuther mentions George Meany as the head of the AFL-CIO. In 1952 Reuther was elected president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which was initially part of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The CIO was an umbrella organization representing workers employed in mass production. In 1937 the CIO split from the more conservative AFL, primarily over differences in tactics. As cold war politics moved most labor representatives away from Socialism, the differences between the AFL and the CIO diminished, and Reuther engineered a reunion of the two groups in 1955, with Meany as head of the new AFL-CIO. Later, Reuther grew critical of Meany's ineffective leadership and in 1968 withdrew the UAW from the AFL-CIO's umbrella.

Reuther closes his speech with a discussion of more general civil rights, stating that union labor stands behind the broader goals of the movement, including voting rights, fair housing, equal education, and desegregation of public facilities. Once again, Reuther links the cause of the American worker to greater society, placing organized labor and the NAACP in a moral battle for the soul of America.