opportunity,the Negro was excluded from most AFL unions.Gompers kept saying he did not want to interfere with the "internal affairs"of the South;"I regard the race problem as one with which you people of the Southland will have to deal;without the interference, too,of meddlers from the outside." In the reality of struggle,rank-and-file workers overcame these separations from time to time.Foner quotes Mary McDowell's account of the formation of a women's union in the Chicago stockyards: It was a dramatic occasion on that evening,when an Irish girl at the door called out-"A Colored sister asks admission.What shall I do with her?"And the answer came from the Irish young woman in the chair-"Admit her,of course,and let all of you give her a hearty welcome!" In New Orleans in 1907 a general strike on the levees,involving ten thousand workers(longshoremen,teamsters,freight handlers),black and white,lasted twenty days. The head of the Negro longshoremen,E.S.Swan,said: The whites and Negroes were never before so strongly cemented in a common bond and in my 39 years of experience of the levee,I never saw such solidarity.In all the previous strikes the Negro was used against the white man but that condition is now past and both races are standing together for their common interests.... These were exceptions.In general,the Negro was kept our of the trade union movement.W.E.B.Du Bois wrote in 1915:"The net resol of all this has been to convince the American Negro that his greatest enemy is not the employer who robs him, but his fellow white working-man." se Racism was practical for the AFL.The excluyion of women and foreigners was also practical.These were mostly unskilled workers,and the AFL,confined mostly to skilled workers,was based on the philosophy of business unionism"(in fact,the chief official of each AFL union was called the "bustness agent"),trying to match the monopoly of production by the employer with a modopoly of workers by the union.In this way it won better conditions for some workers and left most workers out. AFL officials drew large salaries,hobnobbed with employers,even moved in high society.A press dispatch fremAtlantic City,New Jersey,the fashionable seaside resort, in the summer of 1910: Engaged in a game of bathing suit baseball with President Sam Gompers,Secretary Frank Morrison and other leaders of the A.F.of T,.on the beach this morning,John Mitchell, former head of the mine workers'union,lost a 1000 diamond ring presented to him by his admirers after the settlement of the big Pennsylvania coal strike.Capt.George Berke, a veteran life guard,found the ring,whereupon Mitchell peeled a hundred dollar hill from a roll he carried in his pocket and handed it to the captain as a reward for his find. The well-paid leaders of the AFL were protected from criticism by tightly controlled meetings and by "goon"squads-hired toughs originally used against strikebreakers but after a while used to intimidate and beat up opponents inside the union. In this situation-terrible conditions of labor,exclusivity in union organization- working people wanting radical change,seeing the root of misery in the capitalist system, moved toward a new kind of labor union.One morning in June 1905,there met in a hall in Chicago a convention of two hundred socialists,anarchists,and radical trade unionists from all over the United States.They were forming the I.W.W.-the Industrial Workers of the World.Big Bill Haywood,a leader of the Western Federation of Miners,recalledopportunity, the Negro was excluded from most AFL unions. Gompers kept saying he did not want to interfere with the "internal affairs" of the South; "I regard the race problem as one with which you people of the Southland will have to deal; without the interference, too, of meddlers from the outside." In the reality of struggle, rank-and-file workers overcame these separations from time to time. Foner quotes Mary McDowell's account of the formation of a women's union in the Chicago stockyards: It was a dramatic occasion on that evening, when an Irish girl at the door called out-"A Colored sister asks admission. What shall I do with her?" And the answer came from the Irish young woman in the chair-"Admit her, of course, and let all of you give her a hearty welcome!" In New Orleans in 1907 a general strike on the levees, involving ten thousand workers (longshoremen, teamsters, freight handlers), black and white, lasted twenty days. The head of the Negro longshoremen, E. S. Swan, said: The whites and Negroes were never before so strongly cemented in a common bond and in my 39 years of experience of the levee, I never saw such solidarity. In all the previous strikes the Negro was used against the white man but that condition is now past and both races are standing together for their common interests... . These were exceptions. In general, the Negro was kept out of the trade union movement. W. E. B. Du Bois wrote in 1915: "The net result of all this has been to convince the American Negro that his greatest enemy is not the employer who robs him, but his fellow white working-man." Racism was practical for the AFL. The exclusion of women and foreigners was also practical. These were mostly unskilled workers, and the AFL, confined mostly to skilled workers, was based on the philosophy of "business unionism" (in fact, the chief official of each AFL union was called the "business agent"), trying to match the monopoly of production by the employer with a monopoly of workers by the union. In this way it won better conditions for some workers, and left most workers out. AFL officials drew large salaries, hobnobbed with employers, even moved in high society. A press dispatch from Atlantic City, New Jersey, the fashionable seaside resort, in the summer of 1910: Engaged in a game of bathing suit baseball with President Sam Gompers, Secretary Frank Morrison and other leaders of the A.F. of T,. on the beach this morning, John Mitchell, former head of the mine workers' union, lost a $ 1000 diamond ring presented to him by his admirers after the settlement of the big Pennsylvania coal strike. Capt. George Berke, a veteran life guard, found the ring, whereupon Mitchell peeled a hundred dollar hill from a roll he carried in his pocket and handed it to the captain as a reward for his find. The well-paid leaders of the AFL were protected from criticism by tightly controlled meetings and by "goon" squads-hired toughs originally used against strikebreakers but after a while used to intimidate and beat up opponents inside the union. In this situation-terrible conditions of labor, exclusivity in union organization￾working people wanting radical change, seeing the root of misery in the capitalist system, moved toward a new kind of labor union. One morning in June 1905, there met in a hall in Chicago a convention of two hundred socialists, anarchists, and radical trade unionists from all over the United States. They were forming the I. W. W.-the Industrial Workers of the World. Big Bill Haywood, a leader of the Western Federation of Miners, recalled no profit use only