A Great Moral Crusade? The United Auto Workers and the Fight for Civil Rights in the United States

This article explores the relationship between the United Auto Workers, America's largest industrial union, and the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Contributing fresh perspectives, it presents a focused and detailed account of the union's support for the Civil Rights Movement. The analysis shows that the UAW regarded the public fight for civil rights as a ‘great moral crusade’. It played a significant role in the overlooked Detroit ‘Walk to Freedom’ (1963), a predecessor for the iconic March on Washington (1963) and Selma (1965) campaigns. In the 1950s and 1960s, the UAW also helped sustain the national civil rights coalition. In terms of tackling internal discrimination, however, the union's record was limited. Throughout this period, African-American workers remained disproportionately concentrated in low-paying jobs, hurt by corporate practices and union seniority agreements. Into the 1970s, many Black autoworkers turned to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, not the UAW, to tackle these deep-seated problems. As such, I argue that the union's response to internal civil rights complaints was motivated by a desire to reduce its legal liability as much as by a moral compass. Overall, the relationship between the union and civil rights was complex, especially when the private and public records are contrasted.