In 1877 Louisiana's Black laborers reached out to the Knights of Labor Union. They were FED UP with meager wages and racist employers! And there was power in numbers.
The union quickly organized, delivering letters to white farmers demanding they increase laborers' daily wages from 42 cents to $1.25. These demands were ignored, so the laborers went on strike!
Enraged, white farmers retaliated. Strike breakers were hired and Black strikers were evicted from their tenant homes. But it wasn’t over.
Many Black strikers took refuge in Thibodaux, Louisiana – but they’d barely settled in before trouble found them.
A mob of vigilantes had tracked them down! They barricaded Thibodaux, preventing all Black people from leaving without questioning – they were determined to identify strikers and punish them violently.
One night, a Black striker injured a vigilante in self defense, and the mob retaliated by killing 35 Black civilians and dumping their bodies in landfills!
The Thibodaux Massacre drove out Southern labor unions, not to return until the 1930s.
White supremacy wants us to believe our people just “couldn’t get it together” after emancipation, and that generational wealth gaps are our fault. The truth? We fought hard, but white supremacy enforced Black poverty through violence.
It’s crucial we know our true worth – and continue to demand that our needs be met, even against all odds!