Race, Class, and Power in the Alabama Coalfields, 1908-21

The Working Class in American History

by Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly's acclaimed look at the fault lines in the society of an Alabama city challenges the notion that white workers led the resistance to racial equality in the Jim Crow South. Kelly focuses on the forces that brought the black and white miners of Birmingham, Alabama, together during the hard-fought strikes of 1908 and 1920. He examines the systematic efforts by the region's powerful industrialists to create racial divisions as a means of splitting the workforce, preventing unionization, and keeping wages the lowest in the United States. He also details the role played by Birmingham's small but influential black middle class, whose espousal of industrial accommodation outraged black miners and revealed significant tensions within the African American community.

Genres: History, Labor, American History

280 pages, Paperback

First published March 13, 2001

Reviews

[Patti Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book did not hold my interest as I thought it would. I would have preferred more personal stories in relation to the actual history.