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Chapter 6
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Black No More, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism and Oppression
Race, Class, and Power
Ignorance
Identity and Deception
Leadership and Hypocrisy
Summary
Analysis
One morning in June 1934, Matthew Fisher receives a report from an operative in Paradise, South Carolina that the workers in the Paradise Mill (many of whom are Knights) want to unionize in protest of the unfair wages and hours there. Matthew takes a plane there immediately to meet with the owners of the factory: two German men named Blickdoff and Hortzenboff who emigrated after the war.
This incident illuminates how the workers are trying to be more class-conscious, even as people like Matthew are stoking racial resentment to try to turn white workers against Black workers.
Themes
At the meeting, Matthew tells Blickdoff and Hortzenboff that he wants to protect the workers, who are members of the Knights of Nordica. The two men explain that they can’t afford to pay higher wages. Matthew says that if they pay him $10,000, he can calm the workers. Otherwise, he’ll get them run out of business. They are aghast at the threat, saying they’ll call in the militia—but Matthew points out that half the members of the militia are in the Knights of Nordica. Matthew then ups the demand to $15,000, saying if they don’t hurry, he’ll keep raising the price. The men quickly write a check, which Bunny takes on the plane back to Atlanta.
Here, Matthew shows his true colors. Not only is he getting rich off of white workers becoming members of the Knights of Nordica, but he is also playing his power over the workers to his advantage. He is extorting the factory owners so that he can then fight against the workers’ interests. In this way, Matthew is playing both sides and preventing the workers from becoming class-conscious in order to simply gain wealth for himself.
Themes
The next evening, Matthew calls a mass meeting in Paradise at the Knights of Nordica hall there. The undernourished and desperate workers look to Matthew for leadership, and he reminds them that nothing is dearer to them than the maintenance of white supremacy. He insinuates that there are likely some Black people even in their midst who have been turned white. He notes that these people make poor union material because they always run away from a crisis. He ends with a plea for liberty, justice, and fairness, to tumultuous applause. Afterwards, people crowd around the table to sign up to be members.
The first part of Matthew’s plan involves what he has always done, which is to stoke racial resentment. In stating that nothing is more important than preserving white supremacy, he is laying the groundwork for the idea that the workers should fight against Black workers rather than banding together with them to demand better conditions and wages.
Themes
Swanson, the chairman of this chapter of the Knights of Nordica and the leader of its radical militant wing, is thrilled with the results of the meetings and promises Matthew that the union will soon bring the Paradise Mill owners to justice. But two days later, Matthew sends his secret operatives to Paradise. Soon after, a rumor swirls that Swanson was formerly Black and originally from Columbia. When he admits that he lived in that city previously, the workers conclude that the rumor must have been true. When Swanson calls another strike meeting, no one comes, and people start ignoring him completely and complaining at the mill that they don’t want to work with a “nigger.” As a result, Swanson leaves the city.
This episode illustrates just how harmful stoking racial resentment is to the labor movement in Paradise. Because rumors fly that Swanson used to be Black, the workers refuse to be led by him, thereby completely disorienting the movement. Their use of a racial slur suggests that their bigotry is overpowering their desire to rise up and demand the benefits and working conditions that they deserve.
Themes
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A few millworkers then try to continue organizing, but rumors start about those men not having always been white as well, and they are similarly discredited. Quickly, workers decide that it is better to leave things as they were than to be led by someone who had not always been white.
It is particularly ironic that, despite the workers’ resistance to being led by someone Black, their hatred is being fueled by someone who was formerly Black—Matthew. This again demonstrates both his hypocrisy and his disregard for anything besides his own wealth and power. He doesn’t actually want to get rid of racism; instead, he wants to profit off of it.
Themes
The labor movement in New York City watches the situation in Paradise closely, and they, too, send organizers to the town to stir up a revolt. But when the workers learn that the representative from the labor organization lives in Harlem (synonymous in their eyes with Black), they refuse to let him lead them. Another organizer is not allowed into the Knights of Nordica hall because he’s Jewish.
Here, the workers’ prejudice and ignorance are pushed to its extreme. They immediately associate anyone in Harlem with being Black, and their prejudice and ignorance also makes them anti-Semitic.
Themes
Soon, all is quiet and orderly in Paradise. Blickdoff and Hortzenboff build a swimming pool, tennis court, baths, and a playground for their employees to improve morale (although they don’t give them time to enjoy these amenities). They also give bonuses of one week’s vacation each year to employees who have worked there more than 10 years. There are no such employees, but the mill workers are overjoyed.
Here, the book illustrates how easily ignorance can be manipulated. The workers don’t realize that they can’t actually take advantage of the benefits they’ve been given—they still count this as a success, and their meager victory placates their desire to organize.
Themes
While the local Baptist preacher commends all involved for handling the situation in such an American and Christian way, it is clear that Paradise will never be the same again: rumors fly around, and people often ask each other about their birth and blood. Any person who can’t disprove charges of Black ancestry is forced to leave. The workers are so busy talking about these issues that no one thinks of discussing wages and hours of labor.
This passage demonstrates the impact that Matthew’s fearmongering has had on Paradise. The name of the town is ironic, considering the fact that the workers are still working under the same poor conditions that they always have—and this is due to the fact that they are more focused on racial resentment than their own job benefits. In addition, this section highlights how mutable identity has become—even though skin color and bloodline don’t really define a person’s identity, people are extremely focused on the potential for deception.
Themes
In August, Blickdoff and Hortzenboff are in Atlanta on business, and they ask Matthew how he prevented the strike. He tells them that those are secrets of his trade—and he is doing the same thing all over the country. The workers are far more interested in maintaining white supremacy than in their high death rate and brutal working conditions.
Matthew is dismantling the labor movement entirely by making the white working class focus on race. On the other hand, the book suggests that they could fight their high death rate and brutal working conditions by uniting with Black (or formerly Black) workers rather than vilifying them.
Themes
