The Negro Worker in New York City

New York: Welfare Council of New York CIty, 1941. Saddle-stapled in photographic wraps. 32 pp. 5 x 7 ¼ in.

An incredible document of Black labor organizing in midcentury New York, with writing about the Harlem Riot of 1935; a statistical analysis of the decreasing rate of Black income in New York throughout the 1930s; an indictment of prejudice in hiring practices and prevailing racist beliefs about “the Black worker”; and sections on the need for job creation and job retention in Black communities in New York. The Harlem Riot of 1935, which serves as a key throughline in this booklet broke out after the arrest of a young shoplifter in Harlem and spreadings rumors of his assault of by store employees or police. The uprising marked a shift in riots in Black communities in the United States; as opposed to early race riots between white and Black people, the Harlem Riot was directed at property and capital.

Rare. Nine copies in OCLC as of October 2022. Small bump to bottom right corner of front cover and some discoloration of bottom of cover; otherwise, near fine.