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COLD WAR AND BLACK LIBERATION      CHENG

unions that opposed the administration's foreign policy. Therefore, in order to solidify the support of labor it would be necessary to split labor. This split did occur. A split that led to the expulsion of eleven unions from the CIO. These unions were expelled for alleged communist domination. A detailed account of this sorry chapter in the history of the American labor movement will not be investigated here. Rather, the intent will be to concentrate on the impact this CIO "red purge" had on the general struggle for human rights.

As early as 1946, the CIO had amended its new set of rules aimed at curbing any independent action by a union member, state or municipal council not in harmony with CIO policy. Phillip Murray, head of the CIO, was also authorized to take steps leading to expulsion of any union, officers or individual members. Still, in 1946, with the Cold War not yet in full gear, the CIO refrained from initiating a wholesale purge. But the New York Herald Tribune was certainly close to the mark in observing: "Obviously, the changes constituted a swipe at Communists and fellow travelers in the CIO whose activities in the past have been denounced by Mr. Murray as conflicting with the policies set forth by the parent body."25 Soon dancing to the tune of Truman's "red" chorus, the CIO would become immersed in a battle to put its house in order, a euphemism for ridding itself of alleged "red" influence. Energy devoted to the purge would be at the expense of the black worker. Describing this purge, Rosen states:

The CIO itself was so deeply enmeshed in this struggle that in these critical years it had little energy to spare for other things, including the development and application of an effective strategy for dealing with the economic problems of Negro workers.26

A withdrawal of the CIO from the battle to serve racial justice during "these critical years" cannot be underestimated. For as John Hope Franklin has written, a critical factor in opening up increased opportunities for black workers came about as a direct result of the role played by unions, particularly the CIO.

With the enactment of the Marshall Plan, the stage was set for a confrontation with those CIO unions who refused to endorse the plan. The CIO itself had gone on record as backing the plan, and in 1948, the CIO executive council ordered all unions to support its political decisions. Some CIO unions refused to do this. In fact, many CIO union leaders endorsed the candidacy of Henry Wallace for

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