Reply #52: why was Dr. King in Memphis? [View All]

[Two Americas]

Another part of the story that is being erased from public awareness.



Does History Matter?

Memphis showed the intersection of civil rights and workers’ rights. Dr. King was in Memphis in early 1968 because of a strike by African American workers. These public workers took care of Memphis’ garbage. And in return, Memphis treated them like garbage. Their wages were atrocious. There were no benefits, no vacation and no pension.

On Jan. 31, 1968, it rained. Black sewer workers were sent home without pay. The next day, Feb. 1, the cold rain continued. There were no indoor facilities for Black sanitation workers. Two of them sat inside the back of a garbage truck to stay dry. Old and poorly maintained, an electrical short in its wiring caused the compressor to start running. Echol Cole and Robert Walker were crushed to death. Ten days later the union held a mass meeting, where the members voted to strike. The slogan of the Memphis strike was a simple one. The slogan was: “I am a man.” The Memphis strike was a strike for dignity — dignity as African Americans and dignity as workers.

Dr. King understood the close connection between the African American struggle and the struggle of labor. “Negroes are almost entirely a working people,” he said. “Our needs are identical with labor’s needs.” The mayor of Memphis told one and all that the strike was “illegal.” I don’t know if he called the strikers “thugs,” but he might have.


http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/10618/