From George Meany
Author: Meany, George
Date: June 16, 1961
Location: Washington, D.C.
Genre: Letter
Details
At its annual board meeting in May 1961, SCLC passed a resolution condemning the recent firing of African American labor leader Theodore Brown as assistant director of the civil rights division of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).1 In a likely effort to ameliorate controversy surrounding Brown’s dismissal, Meany, president of the AFL-CIO, writes King a telegram of support, highlighting the close alliance between the civil rights movement and labor. He underscores organized labor’s opposition to racial discrimination in education, employment, and voter registration, concluding: “These are our goals. I am sure they are yours.”2 No reply to Meany’s telegram has been found.
= reverend martin luther king jr, president southern christian leadership conference
care reverend d l sylvester odom3
= western christian leadership conference
1177 w 25th st losa =
= let me convey to you warmest greetings and admiration for your contributions to advance the cause of equality for all our citizens. it is a goal the afl-cio fully supports.
racial discrimination is morally wrong and weakens america. it must be abolished. it is not mere coincidence that where civil rights are most strongly suppressed, unions are most vigorously opposed. nor is it coincidence that where negroes exist under miserable social and economic conditions, wages are lowest for all workers, social legislation least advanced and anti-labor legislation most severe.
the congressional roll calls tell the story. the same congressmen who vote consistently against civil rights legislation line up just as solidly in opposition to labor.
labor wants a better day for all americans. we want to invigorate our national economy at the same time that we eradicate discrimination so that all our citizens can enjoy full employment at decent wages.
we want our educational system tremendously improved and at the same time we want to insure that every american child has equal access to education. we want a fuller democracy and that is possible only when all citizens have a full opportunity to vote#
these are our goals. i am sure they are yours =
george meany
president afl-cio..
1. The resolution said: “Mr. Brown has been an outspoken critic of discrimination in any form. This is a sad recompense for the courageous fight he has waged. The AFL-CIO has severely damaged its image in the eyes of the Negro community” (“SCLC to Carry Libel Suit to Supreme Court,” Atlanta Daily World, 14 May 1961). Other African American leaders, such as Adam Clayton Powell, Roy Wilkins, and L. Joseph Overton, also blasted the AFL-CIO and called for a protest demanding Brown’s reinstatement (“Negroes War on Top Labor Heads,” New York Amsterdam News, 6 May 1961). A news report indicated that Brown was dismissed without cause by William Schnitzer, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, and that sources within the labor movement said that Brown’s firing may be related to the public feud between Meany and A. Philip Randolph, who had taken Meany to task for failure to end racial discrimination in unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO (“Negro Labor Leader Fired,” New York Amsterdam News, 29 April 1961; see also King, Press Release, Statement in Defense of A. Philip Randolph, 13 October 1961, and King, Address Delivered at the Fourth Constitutional Convention of the AFL-CIO, 11 December 1961, pp. 306–308 and pp. 333–341, respectively). When writing a section of his book Stride Toward Freedom, King relied heavily on a piece Brown wrote about black workers and trade unions (See Introduction in Papers 4:32).
2. King echoed Meany’s sentiments about the relationship between labor and the civil right movement in an 11 December 1961 speech at the Fourth Constitutional Convention of the AFL-CIO: “The duality of interests of labor and Negroes makes any crisis which lacerates you a crisis from which we bleed. And as we stand on the threshold of the second half of the twentieth century, a crisis confronts us both. Those who in the second half of the nineteenth century could not tolerate organized labor have had a rebirth of power and seek to regain the despotism of that era, while retaining the wealth and privileges of the twentieth century.… Their target is labor, liberals, and Negro people” (see p. 336 in this volume).
3. Odom was the president of the Western Christian Leadership Conference and pastor of Ward AME Church in Los Angeles, California. King spoke at a rally in Los Angeles on 18 June to raise money for the Freedom Rides (Western Christian Leadership Conference, Program, “Freedom Rally,” 18 June 1961; Odom to Friend, June 1961).
Source: MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954–1968, Boston University, Boston, Mass.