Friday, November 18, 2016

Could a White Supremacy Group Organize a Workplace Union?

Yes and no, according to research I am conducting. If the group made overt references to excluding minority workers, no.
But my working paper, titled “White Supremacy Unions? The Conundrum of Sublimated Racism, poses this feasible scenario: In a rural area with a high concentration of whites, at a workplace with no minority workers, a group of employees who also affiliate with a white supremacy group petitions the NLRB for a representation election.  Its organizing campaign raises wage, hour, and working conditions issues while deploying sublimated race cues— for example, about racial disenfranchisement in a social order governed by a cabal of elites who enact laws to benefit minorities— and occasional code language from hate groups.  In other words, the organizing campaign fuses traditional union messages with themes that are widely prevalent in alt-right websites such as Breitbart.  

Under current law, this type of union could form.

Want a particular setting? Try Jackson County, Kentucky, where Caucasians comprise 98.3% of the population, African-Americans are 1.1%, and Hispanics 0.6%. Cubit, Kentucky Demographics, available in http://www.kentucky-demographics.com/jackson-county-demographics. Election Results 2016, Jackson County voted 88.9% for Trump. Election Results 2016, Wall Street Journal (Nov. 18, 2016), available in http://graphics.wsj.com/elections/2016/results/.
Want to learn Klan-speak that is not overtly racist—but is chillingly racist?  See Ku Klux Klan, Klan Glossary, Southern Poverty Law Center, available in https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/ku-klux-klan.

The hidden nature of Klan-speak is demonstrated by terms such as SAN BOG, a password meaning, “Strangers Are Near, Be On Guard,” and KIGY!, a password meaning, “Klansman, I greet you!”
This type of sublimated racist union would likely be able to organize a labor union. I am working on a proposal to prohibit these groups from forming a union. More later.

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