U of A Press Publishes ‘Race, Labor, and Violence in Delta,’ Edited by Michael Pierce and Calvin White

​The U of A Press has announced the publication of Race, Labor, and Violence in the Delta: Essays to Mark the Centennial of the Elaine Massacre, edited by Michael Pierce and Calvin White.

In late September 2019, 17 historians from across the country traveled to the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, to participate in an academic conference that marked the 100th-year anniversary of one of the nation’s deadliest labor conflicts —  the Elaine Massacre. Sponsored by the Diane D. Blair Center for the Study of Southern Politics and Society at the U of A, the two-day conference ultimately resulted in the publication of this edited collection of essays.

Race, Labor, and Violence in the Delta examines the history of labor relations and racial conflict in the Mississippi Valley from the Civil War into the late 20th century. The essays here demonstrate that the brutality that unfolded in Phillips County in 1919 was characteristic of the culture of race- and labor-based violence that prevailed in the century after the Civil War. They detail how Delta landowners began seeking cheap labor as soon as the slave system ended — securing a workforce by inflicting racial terror, eroding the Reconstruction Amendments in the courts and obstructing federal financial-relief efforts. The result was a system of peonage that continued to exploit Blacks and poor whites for their labor, sometimes fatally.

In response, laborers devised their own methods for sustaining themselves and their communities: forming unions, calling strikes, relocating and occasionally operating outside the law. By shedding light on the broader context of the Elaine Massacre, Race, Labor, and Violence in the Delta reveals that the fight against white supremacy in the Delta was necessarily a fight for better working conditions, fair labor practices and economic justice.

Michael Pierce is associate professor of history at the U of A. He is the author of Striking with the Ballot: Ohio Labor and the Populist Party.

Calvin White Jr. is associate dean of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the U of A, where he is also associate professor of history. He is the author of The Rise to Respectability: Race, Religion, and the Church of God in Christ.

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.