Non-Southerners often fail to realize that in the South, we can find not just some of the nation's most backward attitudes about labor, race, and other issues, but also some of the most progressive views and concrete accomplishments.

Thousands of Latino migrant workers have come to the South over the last decade. In North Carolina alone, the number rose from 77,000 in 1990 to over 300,000 today. Early last year, a new black/brown workers' alliance was launched in Raleigh, North Carolina by Black Workers for Justice (BWJ); the Farm Labor Organizing Committee; Public Service Workers Union/UE Local 150, and the Asociación de Trabajadores Latinos de North Carolina (ASTLANC). The call for the African American/Latino Alliance went out from the North Carolina Office of Health and Safety (NCOSH), a non-profit entity that has supported educators and organizers.

This past summer, I interviewed five African Americans and Latino/as involved in building the alliance. They responded to some key questions:

Where does the tension exist?

Most of the tension between African Americans and Latinos arises in the poultry industry, according to Saladin Muhammad, Chair of Black Workers for Justice and Lead Organizer of UE Local 150. There is not a lot of tension in agriculture, where about 60-70% of the Latinos work, because blacks don't "own" those jobs, he said. Competition for other low- wage jobs, such as construction, is also a factor.

What are some of the obstacles to alliance building?

Alyce Gowdy Wright of NCOSH, who is bi-racial, works with both Latino and Black workers. "Workers are played off against each other. . .Latinos who have proficient English skills get taken off the line and become company spies." But, she said, black supervisors on the line also buy trailers and rent them to Latinos at a profit.

Armando Carbajal of ASTLANC, the Latino Workers Association, described how black workers may be threatened that if they don't shape up, they would be fired and replaced by a Latino worker.

A key source of tension is recruitment methods. Muhammad explained that the Carolina Turkey company has sent out recruiters to Texas and Florida, where they find Latinos more likely to accept low wages and poor working conditions because they are undocumented.

Right-to-work laws in the South make the struggle even more difficult. Carolina Turkey also exerts control with its trailers, where workers live with the rent deducted from their pay – like a company town.

Language also poses barriers, Muhammad said. "African Americans will assume when people are talking a different language that they are saying bad things about them. There are also cultural issues, for example, the name Jesus – which is common among Latinos – causes a negative reaction in the black community. Last year we held Spanish classes, we should start them again."

How does fear affect the undocumented in alliance-building?

Latino workers fear filing complaints if they are undocumented. Muhammad described an example: "When a young Mexican worker fell into a machine and was killed, Carolina Turkey offered the family in Mexico a ridiculous amount of compensation. Black Workers for Justice tried to force them to pay more. But then the family and others told us to back off-they were afraid of retaliation if they pressed too hard. We learned from that the importance of slow organizing."

"Some Latinos identify with the white society as a self-protective tactic," said Muhammad. "Also, even before they get here, they have been told to 'watch out for the blacks, they will rob you.'"

Ajamu Gordon Dillahunt, another founder of the alliance, spoke about the need for Black workers to understand how undocumented status leaves Latino workers vulnerable. "If that makes them afraid to speak up, then the undocumented status is a problem for Black workers too because it makes them unable to build an effective workplace organization."

Have there been any encouraging signs?

Baldemar Velasquez, President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) explained how Black Workers for Justice has supported FLOC's boycott against Mt. Olive, a large pickle company which subcontracts to small farmers. One farmer told a FLOC leader, "You don't know where you're at, buddy. You're in the south. The north only won that war on paper. We've never given up our slaves."

FLOC launched a boycott in 1999 and received support from much of the black community, including BWJ, which also supports a petition the call for amnesty for undocumented workers. Velasquez felt this support was very important. "Before they were with the critics of amnesty but they have turned around." Muhammad agreed: "Migration has been an issue during and after slavery for African Americans, who have moved from the south to the north. The right to migrate freely is real."

What is the key to successfully organizing the Alliance?

All five organizers emphasized the importance of going to the grassroots. Muhammed explained: "Our middle-class African Americans can be progressive and they may unite with Latinos around the struggle against 'driving while black or brown.' But the Alliance sees the need to attract more working-class participation. Last year about 300 Guatemalan workers at Tyson's Chicken went on strike. They didn't win any major concessions. They didn't have African American support or statewide support in general."

Alyce Gowdy Wright also emphasized working in the communities. "We had a barbecue. We're still at the point where blacks sit on one side of the room and Latinos on the other- and me with Armando in the middle! It's all very new."

Wright recalled when a Latino worker came into her office who had a Confederate flag on his truck; he wanted to be accepted. "We explained what the flag meant and he understood that for many people it was unacceptable. Fortunately, Armando and I were both there – not just a black woman."

"Latinos are mushrooming, but nobody has this on their radar screen," Dillahunt concluded. "Grassroots organizing efforts in the South won't succeed unless our two communities work together."

Elizabeth (Betita) Martínez is a co-founder of the Institute for MultiRacial Justice, a resource center in San Francisco that helps build alliances among peoples of color. Author of 6 books on social movements in the Americas, she has worked as an anti-racist activist for 40 years.