No Color Line
September 1918
Wilson Condemns Lynching
In the first few decades of the 20th century, African Americans were treated as second-class citizens in many parts of the country. This was especially the case in the South where Jim Crow and segregation were the institutional laws of the land.
But the Teamsters always believed in “no color line” because brotherhood in the union was more important than the color of a member’s skin. In September 1918, the International Teamster magazine published an article that condemned racial hatred, specifically the brutality of lynching.
Central to the article was President Woodrow Wilson’s address at the 1917 AFL Convention. In his speech, Wilson said that mob rule and lynchings in the United States were equal to the attacks on American soldiers abroad in World War I. “I want to say to every man who does join such a mob that I do not recognize him as worthy of the free institutions of the United States,” Wilson said.
May 1921
Importance of Solidarity
Race was not always mentioned directly in columns from the International Teamster magazine during the first quarter of the 20th century. But the editors of the magazine still regularly addressed the importance of maintaining overall solidarity in the union. This was because anti-union groups were always looking for ways to exploit differences among workers, including the practice of pitting white workers against blacks.
In this way, the magazine served as an important tool for reminding rank-and-file members that they needed to stay united and not let the color of their skins distract them from their shared goals as members of the working class. For example, in 1921 one editorial emphasized the importance of celebrating the “human family” that encompasses all races in order to achieve true unity. When workers unified as part of this human family, “the ideals of equality, liberty and fraternity” would strengthen their solidarity.
By finding ways to strengthen brotherhood through solidarity (despite such differences as race) the Teamsters could be stronger in the face of union-busting tactics. This was especially important in the days before much of the pro-union legislation was passed in the 1930s.
May 1963
Louisville Local 89 Trucks Aid for Civil Rights Effort in Kentucky
Teamsters were regularly involved in the civil rights battle during the 1960s. In 1963, Local 89 of Louisville played a key role in a campaign in Greenwood, Mississippi by being the first to ship emergency supplies after 22,000 blacks were cut off from government surplus foods. The citizens were treated that way simply because they registered to vote.
The conflict reached a violent climax when James Travis, a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was critically wounded when caught in a burst of automatic rifle fire from a passing car near Greenwood. It was then that the Teamsters sprang into action.
Paul W. Priddy, President of Local 89, immediately arranged with the Hertz Co. to donate a truck. Local 89 then furnished the gas and volunteer drivers. Gilbert Ryan, an assistant business agent and the Rev. James Martin, a member of Local 89’s executive board, drove the truck to Greenwood—the birthplace of the notorious White Citizens Council.
The two tons of good that these Teamsters delivered to the black citizens who courageously risked everything just to vote was the first shipment of its kind, and according to the International Teamster magazine, the shipment “rekindled the spirit of those determined to raise their political voice.”