Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family from Slavery to the Present

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Vintage Books, 1986. Paperback. Very Good. 8vo - over 7 in- 9 in Tall. Remainder mark on bottom edge. Soft cover, very good condition. Illustrated. In Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow, University of Texas historian Jacqueline Jones describes the work patterns of black women from slavery to the present. Originally published in 1985, the 2010 edition is revised and reflects black women's gains and losses in the past quarter century. Jones argues that black women, consistently demonized throughout history as "lazy" and facing the double burden of sexism and racism, faced an uphill battle in their quest for equal treatment in work. Female slaves did not receive any kinds of breaks based on their gender, according to Jones. They toiled in the field and in the house at the same rate and with the same expectations of male slaves. Even pregnancy did not offer women any substantial protection from excessive work, and white overseers and masters posed a sexual threat to female slaves. Additionally, female slaves returned from their work to face more demands from their families and community. They were responsible for most food preparation, spinning, the care of elderly and children and meeting the spiritual and emotional needs of their kin. After emancipation, that difficult life did not cease. Although former slaves often desired to have a male breadwinner household, economic necessity and the derision of some southern observers and northern reformers at the idea of a black woman's "lazy" decision to do frivolous housework prevented that course. Instead, black women continued to toil beside their husbands as sharecroppers. White families also employed black women as domestic "help," a job title that belied a multitude of tedious and poorly compensated tasks. As blacks moved into the North in search of better paying jobs, black women's work took on a different quality. Although they were still, as were their white counterparts, expected to fulfill all the household duties, black women began to move out of agricultural jobs. However, secretarial and retail jobs were not available to black women. Factories hired black women for the most menial and lowest paying jobs, closing even those opportunities when the Depression hit. Most black women turned to the service industry for employment as maids and janitors in keeping with traditional employment in the South. World War II provided a brief window for black women in terms of gainful employment. They flocked to high wage jobs in the war industry and enjoyed a better standard of living. However, they continued to face discrimination on the job. As white women returned to work in the 1950s in "pink-collar" service jobs or suffered the pains of the "feminine mystique" in suburban enclaves, black women begrudgingly shuffled back into their traditional occupations. However, World War II laid the foundations for a change. Historians often consider the official beginning of the Civil Rights Movement to be Rosa Parks' historic decision to refuse to give her bus seat to a white passenger. Jones argues that Parks was a representative of the general black woman in the postwar era: overworked, community-spirited and tired of the status quo. In her last sections, Jones ties the plight of the black woman to welfare and poverty issues over the last three decades. She contends that welfare legislation is shortsighted and often mean-spirited and rejects the claim that black women simply will not work, showing that black women on welfare usually have full-time jobs but are still unable to rise above the poverty line. Delving into the harsh effects of the global economy on unskilled positions and the loss of public service jobs due to state and federal governments' budget trimming, Jones argues that an economy that hurts nearly all Americans is particularly devastating to black women.