"An eloquent and essential correction to contemporary discussions of the American working class."-The Nation From the ongoing issues of poverty, health, housing, and employment to the recent upsurge of lethal police-community relations, the black working class stands at the center of perceptions of social and racial conflict today. Journalists and public policy analysts often discuss the black poor as "consumers" rather than "producers," as "takers" rather than "givers," and as "liabilities" instead of "assets." In his engrossing history, Workers on Arrival, Joe William Trotter, Jr., refutes these perceptions by charting the black working class's vast contributions to the making of America. Covering the last four hundred years since Africans were first brought to Virginia in 1619, Trotter traces the complicated journey of black workers from the transatlantic slave trade to the demise of the industrial order in the twenty-first century. At the center of this compelling, fast-paced narrative are the actual experiences of these African American men and women. A dynamic and vital history of remarkable contributions despite repeated setbacks, Workers on Arrival expands our understanding of America's economic and industrial growth, its cities, ideas, and institutions, and the real challenges confronting black urban communities today.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Prologue: Foregrounding the Black Worker Part 1 Preindustrial Beginnings Chapter 1 • Genesis of the Black Working Class Chapter 2 • Building the Early Community Chapter 3 • Prelude to the Modern Age Part 2 The Twentieth Century Chapter 4 • The Industrial Working Class Chapter 5 • African American Workers Organize Chapter 6 • Demolition of the Old Jim Crow Order Chapter 7 • Demise of the Industrial Working Class Epilogue: Facing the New Global Capitalist Economy Appendix: Interpreting the African American Working-Class Experience, an Essay on Sources Notes Index