Labor Day is viewed as the last long weekend to enjoy the company of friends before the end of summer. Just like many other things that we take for granted now, Labor Day began as a holiday for American workers to gain relief from the harsh working conditions they lived under during the middle of the Industrial Revolution. As I reflect on Labor Day and the importance of black labor in building this country, two things come to mind. First, from a historical perspective, we are among one of the first generations of blacks that can do what they love and still make a living doing so. Second, people making up the “labor” have always been less valued than those individuals who are owners.
Make sure you are not only a laborer forever — set out to own valuable assets as well. My goal with this essay is to give a history of how black labor contributed to the early building of the United States, so we can appreciate where we came from; but let’s never forget the potential of where we can go as wealth builders — not just paid workers.
Slavery in America
Slavery can be traced back many thousands of years. Dr. David P. Forsythe states in one of his works that “at the beginning of the nineteenth century an estimated three-quarters of all people alive were trapped in bondage against their will either in some form of slavery or serfdom.” This is a startling number. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this free labor was America.
In a capitalist society, a few things need to occur to create the opportunity to generate profits. There needs to be a demand for what you are selling, infrastructure (resources) to produce the product, and labor to work the resources. In a free market, the price of labor is determined by competition between workers who gradually raise the price of their services until it hits its natural state, or market value. Furthermore, workers voluntarily choose to work for certain wages under difficult conditions, if they feel that the extra money outweighs the circumstances endured while laboring.
Through slavery, an entire race of people was systematically denied these abilities as wages for slaves were artificially kept at zero and slaves could not choose whether they wanted to work. And their owners — and thus the country — benefitted tremendously economically, without that wealth “trickling down” to the African-Americans who labored to physically create it.
Of course, the results of this can still be felt today. For centuries, blacks were paid below market value, which prevented them from investing in the resources needed for owning a piece of the pie. Whites were able to reinvest their profits for many generations, whether it be in property, human capital, or technology.
Blacks much more recently gained this luxury. Yet, the fact that whites had a 300-year head start in creating generational wealth is often ignored when discussing economic inequalities in this country today.
Labor Day certainly has a different meaning for African-Americans in this context. One day off can never compensate for the hundreds of years of unpaid work, and the chance, forever lost, to pass on the value of labor for generations.
Reconstruction and The Industrial Revolution
There was a glimmer of hope of equality for African-Americans during the years immediately following the Civil War called the Reconstruction. This was a time when numerous black officials were elected to public office while the south was occupied by Union soldiers. However, the majority of blacks were still suffering in all facets of life.
Sharecropping became the new way that people in power kept control. Instead of being directly forced to work, black sharecroppers’ options were greatly limited to the point that this farming system became de facto slavery. Former slave owners saw sharecropping as an opportunity to take advantage of the uneducated freed slaves by drawing up contracts that saw these workers give up as much as 70 percent of the crop harvested.
Being kept in ignorance meant remaining almost free labor. Another lesson for blacks on Labor Day.
But, African-Americans weren’t the only laborers who had conflicting interests with property owners at the end of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing at this time. There were laborers of all races working 16 hour days in sweatshops all around the nation. This was good for the total economic vitality of the country, but led to a situation in which very few people got rich at the expense of the masses. These conditions inspired some workers to organize labor unions to balance the power between the capitalist owners and labor.
Unfortunately, the unions that were organized by whites excluded black people from their ranks, forcing them to start their own unions.
The defining moment of labor in this era was the Pullman Strike in the summer of 1894. Early that year, the United States was going through a depression and profits were down for the Pullman Car Company based outside of Chicago. The owner, George Pullman, decided to cut the wages of the workers, but not lower their rents and utilities. This caused major upheaval to the point that President Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops to squash the rebellion at the suggestion of the country’s industrial tycoons. The rebellion was crushed, but this act ended up making Cleveland a one term president by alienating the working class of this country.
In a last ditch appeasement effort, Cleveland signed a law making Labor Day a national holiday. So this day, that we all enjoy with barbecues and parties, was actually a desperate effort of a man in power who recognized too late the importance of laborers to this country.
Knowing the history of power imbalances regarding workers and business leaders — especially as it has affected blacks — should make this day a cause of remembrance in addition to relaxation.
Labor Day lesson learned: Black people must use our talents to become owners, not just laborers
Whether it is slavery or the use of governmental power to crush labor unions, the U.S. has always favored the interest of owners over those of laborers. This is especially true for black people. One of the worst things about the Industrial Revolution is that people worked such long hours that they did not have any extra time to invest in education, which is a key factor onto the road of ownership. This is why it is so important today that blacks use their entrepreneurial talents to create generational wealth. Through remembering what happened to our first paid ancestors, the sharecroppers, it is evident that education is key.
We have made many gains since then, and the Civil Rights Movement has helped African-Americans — business people and laborers — gain so much more. However, 40 years since the end of the Civil Rights Movement, we have a lot of ground to make up for the hundreds of years we worked without pay.
Legislation has only taken us so far. The Civil Rights Movement of the 21st century is economic empowerment, so let us all do our part in making the black community stronger in that regard.
As we all must labor, we must also learn to work as owners creating wealth for ourselves.
Lawrence Watkins is the founder of Great Black Speakers, Great Pro Speakers, and co-founder of Ujamaa Deals, which is a daily deal site that promotes black-owned businesses. He graduated in 2006 from The University of Louisville with a B.S. in electrical engineering and earned his MBA from Cornell University in 2010. Lawrence currently resides in Atlanta. You can follow him on Twitter @lawrencewatkins.