Chapter 2: Raising an Arm in Defense of Their Cause

The 1881 cotton workers' strike serves as a pivotal moment when thousands of longshoremen, screwmen, teamsters, and yardmen temporarily transcended racial boundaries to demand higher wages and improved working conditions, demonstrating the potential for interracial worker solidarity in the post-Reconstruction South. Arnesen examines the structural conditions that made such organization necessary: the port's dependence on cotton and river commerce created seasonal employment patterns that left workers vulnerable to irregular hiring, wage suppression, and dangerous labor conditions. The formation of the Cotton Men's Executive Council emerged as a significant institutional development, representing a federation of both Black and white unions that consolidated bargaining power and reduced employer and police retaliation. However, the chapter emphasizes the fundamental instability of these alliances, as persistent racial divisions, employer counterattacks, and the exclusionary tactics of white workers constantly threatened cohesion. Arnesen explores how white screwmen strategically maneuvered to protect their status while Black workers demonstrated considerable militancy in defense of their rights. The analysis reveals how the "labor question" became inseparable from broader conflicts over race, political power, and economic justice in a city defined by segregation and violence. By situating waterfront labor disputes within the context of Reconstruction's aftermath, the chapter demonstrates how workers' struggles over wages, hiring practices, and union recognition fundamentally reshaped Southern labor relations and established patterns of conflict that would persist for decades.