By webadmin@aflcio.org (Monika Greenhow)
It would be an understatement to say that the past few years of witnessing public displays of racial injustice against black and brown communities have been devastating. From the public executions of Mike Brown, Walter Scott, Philando Castile and Renisha McBride, to the recent ban on Muslims enacted by newly elected Donald Trump, we find ourselves living in a time where racial anxiety and tensions are at an all-time high. While we relished the election of the first black president, Barack Obama, we were soon reminded of the deep racial divisions our country still has to overcome in the recent appointments of known white nationalists to the top White House positions, and the confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions—who has a history of racial discrimination in his court rulings. Often, the issue of racial politics and discrimination is not seen as a central priority of the labor movement—but it is our duty to protect workers from racial discrimination in our work places and in our society. One of the labor movement’s most important challenges is to understand how racial discrimination hurts all working people and impedes our ability to protect workers’ rights.
Source: AFL-CIO
