In the 1930s and 1940s, African American industrial workers in the

Question

In the 1930’s and 1940’s, African American industrial workers in the southern United States, who constituted 80 percent of the unskilled factory labor force there, strongly supported unionization. While the American Federation of Labor (AFL) either excluded African Americans or maintained racially segregated unions, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) organized integrated unions nationwide on the basis of a stated policy of equal rights for all, and African American unionists provided the CIO’s backbone. Yet it can be argued that through contracts negotiated and enforced by White union members, unions—CIO unions not excluded—were often instrumental in maintaining the occupational segregation and other forms of racial discrimination that kept African Americans socially and economically oppressed during this period. However, recognizing employers’ power over workers as a central factor in African Americans’ economic marginalization, African American workers saw the need to join with White workers in seeking change despite White unionists’ toleration of or support for racial discrimination. The persistent efforts of African American unionists eventually paid off: many became highly effective organizers, gaining the respect of even racist White unionists by winning victories for White as well as African American workers. African American unionists thus succeeded in strengthening the unions while using them as instruments of African Americans’ economic empowerment.   1 
 1. The passage is primarily concerned with

A. demonstrating that unions failed to address the concerns of African American workers during a particular period
B. arguing that African American workers’ participation in unions during a particular period was ultimately beneficial to them
C. contrasting the treatment of African American workers by two different labor organizations during a particular period
D. giving reasons for the success of African American unionists in winning victories for both African American and White workers during a particular period
E. questioning one explanation for the attitudes of African American workers toward unionization during a particular period

2 
 2. According to the passage, which of the following was true of many racist White unionists during the period discussed in the passage?

A. Their attitudes toward African American union organizers changed once they recognized that the activities of these organizers were serving workers’ interests.
B. They were a powerful element in the southern labor movement because they constituted the majority of the unskilled factory labor force in the southern United States.
C. They persisted in opposing the CIO’s adoption of a stated policy of equal rights for all.
D. Their primary goal was to strengthen the negotiating power of the unions through increasing White union membership. 
E. Their advocacy of racial discrimination hampered unions in their efforts to gain more power for workers.

3 
 3. The author of the passage suggests which of the following about African American workers who participated in union activities in the 1930’s and 1940’s?

(A) They believed that the elimination of discrimination within unions was a necessary first step toward the achievement of economic advancement for African Americans.
(B) They belonged exclusively to CIO unions because they were excluded from AFL unions.
(C) They believed that the economic advancement of African American workers depended on organized efforts to empower all workers.
(D) Some of them advocated the organization of separate African American unions because of discriminatory practices in the AFL and the CIO.
(E) Many of them did not believe that White unionists in CIO unions would tolerate or support racial discrimination against African American workers.

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

3. The author of the passage suggests which of the following about African American workers who participated in union activities in the 1930’s and 1940’s?

This question asks us which of the following is  suggested  by the author. The correct answer choice doesn't have to be airtight and etched in stone, but it does have to be the most in line with what the author writes and believes about the workers in question.

Incorrect answer choices, on the other hand, can still be eliminated if they flat-out contradict what we've read in the passage.

According to the passage, this isn't at all what African Americans believed or did. The second half of the passage says that African American workers achieved their economic goals by joining with White unionists,  despite  White unionists'  toleration or support of racial discrimination .

This completely contradicts the statement that African American workers believed that the elimination of discrimination within unions to be a  necessary first step  towards achieving economic advancement. Eliminate (A).

This language is simply too extreme to be backed by the author's own words:

"While the American Federation of Labor (AFL) either excluded African Americans or maintained racially segregated unions, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) organized integrated unions nationwide on the basis of a stated policy of equal rights for all, and African American unionists provided the CIO’s backbone."

We've just been told by the author that the AFL  either  excluded African Americans  or  maintained racially segregated unions. This contradicts the statement in choice (B) that African Americans belonged  exclusively  to CIO unions. Even if African American unionists were the backbone of CIO unions, it's clear from the passage that some African American workers were members of AFL unions (but in a racially segregated manner). This is why we can eliminate (B).

Choice (C) lines up much more closely with the author's writing. Remember that the author is using this passage to describe two forces that held back the success of African American workers in this era:

Employers (who acted against workers, and unions, in general) 
 White unionists (who acted against black workers in particular)

The second half of the passage describes how African American workers cooperated with White unionists in order to oppose the power of employers. The key statement by the author is:

"recognizing employers’ power over workers as a central factor in African Americans’ economic marginalization, African American workers saw the need to join with White workers in seeking change despite White unionists’ toleration of or support for racial discrimination."

To clarify a potential misunderstanding of language here, "organized efforts to empower all workers" is almost precisely the definition of what a workers' union is. This language certainly suggests that African American workers depended on organized efforts to empower all workers (i.e. unions), including the White workers (in those unions) who did not treat them well.

I hope this helps!

GMATNinja · Answer

Passage breakdown 
In passages that are one, long paragraph, it can be helpful to split the passage up. In this explanation, the passage will be split into three sections:

Section 1 from the start to “...provided the CIO’s backbone.” 
 Section 2 from “Yet it can be argued that…” to “...support for racial discrimination.” 
 Section 3 from “The persistent efforts of…” to the end of the passage.

In the first section, the author  introduces a historical phenomenon :

African American workers supported unionization in the 1930s and 1940s but were not accepted by all unions.

In the second section, the author  presents two conflicting elements of the historical phenomenon:

Unions helped to maintain racial discrimination against African American workers. 
 However, African American unionists still saw how unions would help them fight against the power of employers

In the third section, the author  argues that the efforts of African American unionists paid off in the end.

They were ultimately successful in using unions to support African Americans’ economic empowerment

For more on the process of breaking down RC passages, check out  this article  and  our live RC videos .

Explanations for individual questions 
 
  Question 2  
  Question 3

Skywalker18 · Answer

• The author talks about the participation of African American workers in the unions of the 1930’s and 1940’s 
• The author then explains the treatment meted out to African Americans by 2 different union groups
• The author eventually talks about how African American workers recognized the needs of workers as a whole thereby gaining the respect of the White Unionists

1.

The passage is primarily
“Yet it can be argued….”
“The persistent efforts of African American unionists eventually paid off “
Option (B) clearly states the purpose of the passage as the author is arguing to prove the point that the participation of African American workers eventually proved beneficial to the workers.

2. According to the passage… 
“gaining the respect of even racist White unionists by winning victories for White as well as African American workers”
Option (A) is a clear word justification of the above and is hence the right answer.

3. The author of the passage… 
“However, recognizing employers’ power over workers as a central factor in African Americans’ economic marginalization, African American workers saw the need to join with White workers”
Option (C ) is a clear word justification of the above excerpt and is hence correct.

Harsh2111s · Answer

VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja 
Why option C is incorrect ?
If look below statement from passage
"Yet it can be argued that through contracts negotiated and enforced by White union members, unions—CIO unions not excluded—were often instrumental in maintaining the occupational segregation and other forms of racial discrimination that kept African Americans socially and economically oppressed during this period"

It is clear White union members never wanted equal rights for all.
Please help.

What was the reason of change of attitude of white union members ?
I didn't found in passage.

KarishmaB · Answer

Look at the last two sentences:
In this period - 
... many became highly effective organizers, gaining the respect of even racist White unionists by winning victories for White as well as African American workers. African American unionists thus succeeded in strengthening the unions while using them as instruments of African Americans’ economic empowerment.

So their attitudes toward African American union organizers did change.

C. They persisted in opposing the CIO’s adoption of a stated policy of equal rights for all.
Did they persist in opposing the equal rights policy - we don't know. Initially they did oppose it, we know. But their attitudes did change as told to us at the end of the passage. Did they persist with their initial opposition, we don't know.

Hoozan · Answer

GMATNinja GMATNinjaTwo please could you help with Q.2. In one of your posts you mentioned that each word plays an important role and hence one must be very careful. https://gmatclub.com/forum/for-many-yea ... l#p2547717

Keeping the above in mind isn't the usage/placement of many in the argument different from the usage/placement in the question?

The passage mentions that: "The persistent efforts of African American unionists eventually paid off: many became highly effective organizers, gaining the respect of even racist White unionists by winning victories for White as well as African American workers"

Here, we say that many AA unionists became highly effective and gained respect of even the racist White unionists.

While the questions asks as about: "true of many racist White unionists" But we don't know how many of the white unionists showed their respect to these AA unionists.

Keeping this in mind I chose (C). Please could you help me with this one

Thanks in advance

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 2 
 
You’re correct to note that the word “many” as found in the quote from the passage refers to African American unionists and not racist White unionists. Nevertheless, it’s reasonable to conclude that if African American workers gained the respect of even racist White unionists (as stated explicitly in the passage), then they won the respect of  many  racist White unionists. In other words, the fact that the passage says AA unionists gained the respect of racist White unionists implies that they won the respect of many of those unionists.

The other thing to keep in mind is that while we should  always  think about CR passages and answer choices literally, we must be careful not to fall into mindless word-matching. Just because the question includes the term “many” does not necessarily mean that the relevant portion of the passage will include the word “many.” Instead, we should try to see how concepts in the answer choices and passage overlap and are connected. In doing so, we can be sure not to eliminate an answer choice by trying to take shortcuts.

Another important point is that we’re looking for the best answer choice, not the correct answer choice. The passage provides no basis to believe that racist White unionists persisted in opposing equal rights for all. So, (C) can be eliminated, and (E) is the best answer choice.

I hope that helps!

Hoozan · Answer

" Yet it can be argued that through contracts negotiated and enforced by White union members, unions—CIO unions not excluded—were often instrumental in maintaining the occupational segregation and other forms of racial discrimination that kept African Americans socially and economically oppressed during this period."

Can't we infer (C) from the above portion of the para?

Can't we infer (C) from the above portion of the para?

GMATNinja · Answer

The problem with (C) is the precise wording of the answer choice. Take a look at it here:

The passage does NOT indicate whether racist white unionists persisted in opposing the ADOPTION of this policy. Presumably, given that they were racist, the unionists were not in favor of equal rights for all. But the passage does not speak to whether the unionists persisted in opposing the CIO’s  adoption of this policy . For that reason, we can eliminate (C).

I hope that helps!

anshul0130 · Answer

VeritasKarishma  -

I reviewed your response to Harsh2111 and i want to know which part of the passage mentions that African Americans opposed CIO's policy.

C. They persisted in opposing the CIO’s adoption of a stated policy of equal rights for all.
Did they persist in opposing the equal rights policy - we don't know.   Initially they did oppose it, we know  . But their attitudes did change as told to us at the end of the passage. Did they persist with their initial opposition, we don't know.

Can you please share the text from the passage which indicates that AA opposed CIO's adoption of a states policy.

Thanks,
Anshul

KarishmaB · Answer

The CIO had the stated policy of equal rights for all.
 "Yet it can be argued that through contracts negotiated and enforced by White union members, unions—CIO unions not excluded—were often instrumental in maintaining the occupational segregation and other forms of racial discrimination that kept African Americans socially and economically oppressed during this period."

Despite the policy, white unionists continued to discriminate. Hence, they opposed the policy.

elizebethsunny · Answer

I still don't understand why it's not "c".

"Yet it can be argued that through contracts negotiated and enforced by White union members, unions—CIO unions not excluded—were often instrumental in maintaining the occupational segregation and other forms of racial discrimination that kept African Americans socially and economically oppressed during this period." 
Doesn't this mean they persisted in opposing CIO's equjal rights policy?

KarishmaB · Answer

Question 2.

2. According to the passage, which of the following was true of many racist White unionists during the period discussed in the passage?

A. Their attitudes toward African American union organizers changed once they recognized that the activities of these organizers were serving workers’ interests.
B. They were a powerful element in the southern labor movement because they constituted the majority of the unskilled factory labor force in the southern United States.
C. They persisted in opposing the CIO’s adoption of a stated policy of equal rights for all.
D. Their primary goal was to strengthen the negotiating power of the unions through increasing White union membership. 
E. Their advocacy of racial discrimination hampered unions in their efforts to gain more power for workers.
 
Responding to a pm:

The answer here is (A) because this is given in the passage. The problem with (C) is that we cannot say whether it is correct or not. It could be, it may not be.

Read these key phrases:

(CIO) organized integrated unions nationwide on the basis of a stated policy of equal rights for all,... Yet it can be argued that through contracts ... by White union members, unions—CIO included—were often instrumental in maintaining the occupational segregation ... However, recognizing employers’ power over workers as a central factor... African American workers saw the need to join with White workers in seeking change despite White unionists’ toleration of or support for racial discrimination. The persistent efforts of African American unionists eventually paid off:  many became highly effective organizers, gaining the respect of even racist White unionists by winning victories for White as well as African American workers  . African American unionists thus succeeded in strengthening the unions while using them as instruments of African Americans’ economic empowerment.

There is very little given to us about white racist unionists. But we are given the highlighted above. What can we say about them?

A. Their attitudes toward African American union organizers changed once they recognized that the activities of these organizers were serving workers’ interests.

African American unionists gained the respect of even the white racist unionists. So we can say that the attitudes of these white racist unionists changed once they saw that the activities of these organizers were serving workers’ interests.
Hence (A) is given to us.

C. They persisted in opposing the CIO’s adoption of a stated policy of equal rights for all.
 
We don't know whether they persisted in equal rights policy. We know that their attitudes did change after they saw that the efforts of African American union organizers were benefiting whites as well as African Americans. So when their attitudes changed, did they stop asking for equal rights, we don't know. 
Hence the passage doesn't give us enough info to say whether they persisted or not.

So the best option is certainly (A).

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 2: the bonus round 
 
(C) is tempting! As you said, the actions of the White unionists "were often instrumental in maintaining the occupational segregation and other forms of racial discrimination that kept African Americans socially and economically oppressed during this period," which certainly goes against an"equal rights for all" policy.

But read choice (C) carefully: "They persisted in opposing  the CIO’s  adoption of a stated policy  of equal rights for all ." The words "adoption" and "stated" are crucial. Even though the racist unionists' actions went against an "equal rights for all" policy, those unionists did NOT (to our knowledge) oppose the CIO's adoption of that stated policy. After all, simply HAVING (i.e. adopting) a stated policy is much different actually ADHERING to that stated policy.

In other words, the racist unionists might have said, "Sure, go ahead and make 'equal rights for all' your stated policy. That doesn't mean we're actually going to help you achieve that goal. We'll keep negotiating/enforcing these racist contracts regardless of what your stated policy is."

I hope that helps!

Elite097 · Answer

KarishmaB  Q2 why not E?

KarishmaB · Answer

Consider the question stem: 
According to the passage, which of the following was true of many racist White unionists during the period discussed in the passage?

Stated detail question. The answer is in the passage. Now ask yourself - what part of the passage supports option (E)?

SnorLax_7 · Answer

Hi  MartyMurray   KarishmaB   avigutman   egmat

Though I was able to comprehend the passage to large extent, the portion starting after comma ', and African American unionists provided the CIO’s backbone.' has given me nightmare to get its literal meaning. what does this portion tring to say ?

' CIO supported African American unionists ' thats what I interpreted in the end.

Kindly can you help ?

Thanks !

' CIO supported African American unionists ' thats what I interpreted in the end.

Kindly can you help ?

Thanks !

KarishmaB · Answer

It means African American unionists were an important part of the CIO. 
"X is the backbone of our company" means X is extremely important to our company.

VerbalBot · Answer

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In the 1930s and 1940s, African American industrial workers in the

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In the 1930s and 1940s, African American industrial workers in the

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