New research published by Professor Timothy Minchin has shed light on the complex, and sometimes contradictory, relationship between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the Civil Rights Movement.
Often described by its leaders as a “great moral crusade”, the union publicly aligned itself with civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s, making important contributions to the protest movement. However, Professor Minchin’s research shows that its internal efforts to address racial inequality within its own ranks were far more limited.
Drawing on new archival material from the UAW’s papers at Wayne State University, he documents the union’s role in the 1963 Detroit Walk to Freedom, where 125,000 people, led by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, marched in support of civil rights.
At this march, King delivered a version of his “I have a dream” address over two months before it grabbed the world’s attention at the March on Washington, a little-known precedent.
“Despite this high-profile support, African-American autoworkers remained disproportionately concentrated in low-paid roles, constrained by corporate practices and union seniority agreements,” he says.
“By the 1970s, many turned to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rather than the UAW to pursue discrimination claims.”
Professor Minchin argues that the union’s response to internal civil rights complaints was shaped as much by concerns about legal liability as by moral conviction.
“Overall, the relationship between the union and civil rights was complex, especially when the private and public records are contrasted.”
This research forms part of Professor Minchin’s ARC Discovery Grant on the US auto industry.
