AMST1915: In Pursuit of Equality: Racial and Gender Justice in American Workplaces

Title VII of the of 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed race and sex discrimination in American workplaces. Yet, employers in this time period were alternately uncertain, reluctant, or downright resistant to implementing these new antidiscrimination laws. Put another way, the change in law did not automatically result in more people of color and white women being hired or put an end to discrimination. Between 1964 and 1981, the impetus for change came from social movements such as the civil rights movement and the women’s liberation movement as they worked with or inspired unions, caucuses, and associations to push for the enforcement of federal law, thereby opening up American workplaces to people of color and white women. To understand how activists transformed American workplaces, this course begins by focusing on the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s and their political ideals and strategies. The remainder of the course will focus on how unions, caucuses, and associations in a variety of workplaces drew from these social movements in their pursuit of racial and/or gender equality. Not only will the course explore how these different campaigns faired, but it will also consider the questions they raise for racial and gender workplace justice in the contemporary moment.

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