Blair LM Kelley, director of The Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina, joins to discuss her recent book Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class. https://twitter.com/profblmkelley?lang=en https://south.unc.edu/ https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631496554 Blair LM Kelley, jumps right into the absurd presentation of the working class in US politics, with a consistent focus on rural and suburban white populations despite the long and intricate history of a Black and POC working class in the US. First, Kelley steps back and parses through her own family’s history as members of the Black working class in the US, exploring how they were barred from working the jobs that they were skilled in or that allowed them any economic or social freedom – a practice deeply embedded in the US’ history well after the Civil War – before stepping back to analyze how this systemic deskilling of African Americans alongside the social segregation worked to shape the stereotypes of Black Americans as dependent on the government, despite the constant reality of Black Americans paying the same taxes and receiving drastically fewer benefits. Skipping a couple of centuries forward, Kelley then walks Emma through the role of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the designation of “essential” workers, in bringing the problem of proper compensation and fair working conditions for Black and POC Americans back to the fore. Next, Kelley looks at the industry of domestic labor as a central institution in the stunting of labor rights and conditions for Black and POC Americans – particularly women – before wrapping up with the myth of the “Working Class Trump Voter” and the intense intersection between labor and citizenship in the topic at hand. Watch the Majority Report live Monday–Friday at 12 p.m. EST on YouTube OR listen via daily podcast at http://www.Majority.FM https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm #SamSeder #EmmaVigeland #MajorityReport #politics #news #progressive #leftist #democrats #liberal SUPPORT the show by becoming a member: http://www.jointhemajorityreport.com/ Download TMR's FREE app: http://www.majorityapp.com TMR MERCH: http://www.shop.majorityreportradio.com CHECK OUT MORE from the MR crew: Matt Binder DOOMED https://www.youtube.com/MattBinder Brandon Sutton DISCOURSE https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Emma Vigeland ESVN https://www.youtube.com/ESVNShow Matt Lech LEFT RECKONING https://www.youtube.com/LeftReckoning OTHER LINKS: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Facebook: http://facebook.com/MajorityReport Twitter: http://twitter.com/MajorityFM Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/majorityreport.fm/ ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4G5hjF5Omc