Abstract
In Struggle for the Soul of the Postwar South: White Evangelical Protestants and Operation Dixie, Elizabeth Fones-Wolf and Ken Fones-Wolf examine religion’s role in the failure of the Congress of Industrial Organization’s (CIO) campaign to organize the post war South. In the wake of WWII, the United States, particularly the South, was at a political crossroads: would the nation build on the liberal legacy of the New Deal or return to the decentralized politics and unregulated capitalism of pre Depression years? Launched in 1946, the Southern Organizing Campaign (SOC), also known as Operation Dixie, was a CIO campaign to organize the South, increase union density, and build on New Deal liberal politics.
Southern organizing remains a challenge for the U.S. labor movement, and many labor historians have analyzed why the SOC failed. Elizabeth and Ken Fones-Wolf highlight the notorious decision by the CIO not to prioritize organizing black workers in their campaign strategy, writing that conditions for black workers were “clearly secondary to protecting unions and New Deal political programs” (p. 136). Other features of the SOC strategy the authors address include the CIO’s focus on organizing large companies, its rejection of radical and communist allies ahead of the “red scare,” and organizers’ reputations as outsiders. This book focuses on the religious beliefs of the white Southern workers targeted by the campaign, examining the intersections of race, gender, class, and religion in the challenges organizers faced in the region.
The authors begin their research from the position that historians should engage more deeply with white Southern workers’ religious beliefs in order to better understand their relationships with organized labor. The book challenges the idea that all white Southern Protestants were antiunion, an assumption which, in my opinion, undermines the diversity of beliefs and experiences these workers embodied and erases the incredible struggles many have fought against various forms of oppression. While antiunionism was widespread in many local Southern churches and communities, the authors show that religion in the South was not a one-dimensional brand of union condemnation (p. 148). Through stories, the authors present a complex picture of communities and individuals navigating power structures and their own belief systems to determine their relationship with organized labor.
Religion was a “crucial part of the fabric of the informal employer-employee relationships that existed in southern workplaces” (p. 88). For some people, the union choice was obvious: they believed that their religion called them to stand with the poor and create a better world on this earth. For others, beliefs that they should reject worldly gains in favor of future spiritual rewards or a commitment to the value of harmony deterred them from union involvement. Antiunionism in white Southern religious communities took many forms. This book describes preachers who warned against the evils of unionism from the pulpit, employers who threatened or bribed church leaders to gain their support, and congregations who turned on their union-friendly leaders. Unions faced significant odds, yet the authors share many examples of strong support for unions from denominations, church leaders, and members of congregations.
Struggle for the Soul of the Postwar South is relevant for labor historians, educators, organizers, and any workers interested in Southern organizing. This book is a valuable contribution to existing analyses of the SOC and offers lessons for the future. Without a genuine engagement with the beliefs and concerns of Southern workers, it will be difficult to make gains in the region.