Scott Houldieson Sr

I agree with Vance about one thing: capitalists and political elites have historically used race to divide the working class and break up labor unions. Vance should know this, since he’s from Appalachia. In the early 20th century, about 10,000 coal miners gathered near Charleston, West Virginia. The coal operators and their political allies conspired to pit workers against one another along racial and ethnic lines. They segregated housing and work assignments; used Black and immigrant workers as strikebreakers; and tried to discredit union organizers as “socialists” or part of a “Negro movement.” At the time, coal miners wore simple work uniforms — often including a bandana tied around the neck to keep coal dust out of their shirts and lungs. After two union sympathizers, Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers, were murdered in 1921 as part of a company-backed terror campaign, miners gathered to demand justice and the right to organize. They turned their red bandanas into symbols of class solidarity that crossed racial lines. Black and white miners tied them around their necks to identify one another and to distinguish themselves from company guards and strikebreakers. In other words, to say: “On material interests, we are united, regardless of skin color.” This is why they became known as the “Redneck Army.” You can see similar unity elsewhere, such as in the 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts textile strike. Factory owners tried to divide workers — Italian, Polish, Jewish, Syrian, and others — but they ultimately came together under the slogan “Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!” Thus, that was known as the "Bread and Roses Strike." It’s true that the labor movement has always had to overcome racial and ethnic divisions to unite around class interests. But Vance leaves out an important part of the story: financial and political elites often try to exploit these divisions to maintain power. It's to the labor movement's credit that they were often able to overcome these divisions.