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Trumka on race
Ben Smith's Blog — Richard Trumka, in an unusually blunt discussion of race, talks about the old-line white union Democrats who he says may not vote for Obama because he's black. The video is from the Democratic National Convention, and was posted by labor blogger Jonathan Tasini. Trumka, a former United Mine Workers official who's now the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, argues that the unions are in a position to change their members' minds and to stress class solidarity over race. "We need to get the message out that a worker who votes for John ...

Union chief talks frankly about Obama and race
Jonathan Martin's Blog — Some candid video above of Richard Trumka, the number two man at the AFL-CIO, telling Ohio delegates at last month's Democratic convention  that racism among union members could be problematic. It's an old-fashioned labor stemwinder with some socio-political analysis and a very familiar anecdote.  "Racism is a tool that's used to divide working people," says Trumka, a fomer Pennsylvania miner and UMW chief. (Via Jonathan Tasini)

Can The Economic Crisis Advance Racial Progress?
LiberalOasis : The Blog — ... that spirit as well. So Obama spends his time talking about that economic common ground, and not demanding constant self-flagellation. Meanwhile, as the New York Times reported this week, union organizers are making peer-to-peer confrontation with their memberships, to bring racial issue out in the open and make the case that our economic problems are too dire to let skin color and false smears get in the way of change. Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO explained the importance of this effort in Denver during the DNC ...

Can The Economic Crisis Advance Racial Progress?
The Hollywood Liberal — ... , union organizers are making peer-to-peer confrontation with their memberships, to bring racial issue out in the open and make the case that our economic problems are too dire to let skin color and false smears get in the way of change. Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO explained the importance of this effort in Denver during the DNC last month: Recent polls showing Obama hitting 50% in industrial states with older, union voters such as ...

Bill Scher: Economic Crisis Beats Racial Divisiveness
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Video of AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka speaking about how racism should no longer divide America's workers has made a slow burn throughout the ...