Seattle In Coalition PDF Download

This dissertation examines racial inequality and activism in Seattle and the greater Pacific Northwest from 1969-1999. 1969 marked the start of a massive economic recession in Seattle. This period coincided with key economic shifts throughout the nation and the world, namely deindustrialization and the increased globalization of capitalism. I argue that activists of color countered these hardships through interracial resistance work. In response, African American men and women trade workers, Native American Red Power leaders, Asian American cannery laborers, and Mexican American farmworkers created a fulcrum of coalition building in Seattle that also reached outward- supporting decolonization movements and workers’ rights in the Global South. As a result, organizers overturned race and gender discrimination among various fields of labor, gained property ownership, and solidified a united front against government funding cuts. Thus, this dissertation focuses on working-class activists who developed sophisticated critiques of economic and racial struggles in ways that recognized growing connectivity between the US and the world. This scholarship also intervenes in research that separates political and social movements across racial lines, emphasizing a racially comparative approach to activist history and identity politics. Seattleites maintained racial pride and strove for self-determination, but also fostered interracial, working-class identities. Finally, I underscore the long-term legacies and evolutions of activist movements during the mid-twentieth century by examining the 1980s and 1990s. The location of this history is of particular importance. For many, Seattle stands as beacon of liberal and progressive politics. I explore this perception alongside the overwhelming white dominance and deep pockets of racial segregation in the city. Looking at Seattle helps complicate notions of “racial harmony” in the region while demonstrating how communities of color felt both isolated and empowered by their small demographic presence. In the Pacific Northwest, activists responded to segregation, discrimination, and political invisibility through decades of successful, coalition-based resistance. These vibrant manifestations of cross-racial unity help illuminate the nuances, complexities, and long-term evolutions of activists with a core commitment to economic and racial justice.