The Evasion of African American Workers

Download or read book The Evasion of African American Workers written by Roderick O. Ford and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2008-10 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: EMPLOYMENT LAW STUDIES------ BOOK THEME: The Evasion of African American Workers dispels the euphoric idealism in vogue today which purports that civil rights laws and social protest movements are dispensable. It gives credence to the claims of millions of African American workers who believe that they have been discriminated against on their jobs and, simultaneously, it forcefully appeals to the American legal community to take the lead in taking action to avert disasterous socioeconomic consequences now facing the African American community.----- TABLE OF CONTENTS: (1). Chapter One: "The Great Implosion" (2). Chapter Two: "The Legacy of Chattel Slavery" (3). Chapter Three: "Origins of Race in the American Workforce" (4). Chapter Four: "Washington & DuBois Revisited" (5) Chapter Five: "Employment At Will" (6) Chapter Six: "Workplace Harassment: An American Tragedy" (7) Chapter Seven: "Racial Slurs and Symbols..." (8). Chapter Eight: "Surveillance and the Criminalization of Work" (9). Chapter Nine: "Degradation of Servitude- A New Common Law Doctrine" (10). Chapter Ten: "Risk Management, Race, and Employment" (11). Chapter Eleven: "Tale of an African American Worker" (12). Chapter Twelve: "Court Access and the African American Worker"------ BOOK SUMMARY: Chapters One through Four provide unique perspectives concentrating primarily upon the historical origins of the critical problems facing African American workers in the early part of the twenty-first century. Chapter One directs attention to three of the most critical relationships bolstering the African American Community: that of parent-child, husband-wife, and employer-employee. Chapter One offers a prophetic warning to this nation; namely, that disastrous genocidal consequences are imminent, should current trends persist unabated. Chapter Two focuses attention on the economic impact of American slavery on the current crisis: while African Americans make up thirteen percent of the total population of the United States, their net worth is only 1.2 percent of the total net worth of the nation, and this percentage of total net worth has not changed since the end of the Civil War in 1865. Next, Chapter Three analyzes the social impact of American slavery on the current crisis: the Free Soil and Free Labor movements which had coalesced into the Republican Party during the 1850´s, and nominated Abraham Lincoln as its anti-slavery presidential candidate in 1860, had been primarily and exclusively a white workers´ political movement. Thus, from the end of the Civil War in 1865, up through the 1950s, African American workers were systematically excluded from predominantly white labor unions, high-paying jobs, and apprenticeships in the trades. Finally, ending the historical component of this book, Chapter Four looks at two of Black America´s greatest leaders-- Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois-- in an effort to isolate and to revitalize their essential thoughts on similar economic problems facing African American workers in these early days of the twenty-first century. *** Turning to traditional law topics-- the common law, statutory law, and constitutional law-- Chapters Five through Nine analyze weaknesses in the current American legal system: e.g., the draconian impact of the at-will employment doctrine on African American workers in Chapter Five; the daunting task of proving "discriminatory intent" in hostile work environment cases in Chapter Six; the increasing workplace tolerance of racial slurs and symbols in Chapter Seven; the devastating impact of incarcertaion, crime and workplace surveillance in Chapter Eight; and a recommendation for a newer, more pertinent legal doctrine (i.e., "the degradation of servitude") in Chapter Nine.*** Chapters Ten through Twelve close out the book with three novel and unique perspectives on African American employment problems. Chapter Ten purports that the risks of attaining