Race, Identity, and Belonging: “Blackness” and the Struggle for Solidarity in a Multiethnic Labor Union

Abstract

This article presents an ethnographic examination of the ways in which a “black” organization—a 15,000 member labor union in New York City—has been altered and transformed by an influx of immigrant members. By appealing to shared racial experiences and promoting an American “minority” identity, the union's leaders and African American members have successfully incorporated immigrant members and, in the process, have altered the cultural practices and structural forms of the organization. The study argues that this occurred, in part, due to the particular organizational history of the union, and the sense of organizational identity built by union leaders and members. By drawing from the cultural legacy forged by the organization's founders, the union's leaders have developed a new identity for the organization that appears to be a continuation of—and improvement upon—the old. This case thus illustrates the importance of culture in organizational transformation, and also illuminates the ways in which native-born minorities expand their definition of what it means to be “black” in order to successfully incorporate newcomers.

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