“IWW General Headquarters was collecting information regarding past free speech fights in response to a request from the U.S. Committee on Industrial Relations. Believing the “publicity to be worth the work it will entail,” Vincent St. John made an appeal in Solidarity one week before the September convention. Anyone who had first-hand experience was asked to submit personal narratives, pamphlets, bulletins, reports, and detailed histories regarding the various free speech fights. …. The committee determined that non-English-speaking workers had prevented development of better employer-employee relationships, especially with the “unreasonable prejudice of almost every class of Americans toward immigrants.” With rumblings of a European war, the committee recommended immediate legislation for restricting immigration except for those who were “likely to make the most desirable citizens.” PrejudiceImmigrantsXenophobiaLabor UnionsIwwWobblies Book:Frank Little and the IWW: The Blood That Stained an American Family Source: Frank Little and the IWW: The Blood That Stained an American Family
“In 1915, Theodore Roosevelt stated tht many imgrant Americans were loyal only to their mother countries and therefore untrustworthy, especially in a time of war.”….Wilson’s attitude encouraged carte blanche for discrimination and violence against minorities, and xenophobia began to permeate the American atmosphere.” DiscriminationImmigrantsXenophobiaWobbliesLabor WorkersWwi History Book:Frank Little and the IWW: The Blood That Stained an American Family Source: Frank Little and the IWW: The Blood That Stained an American Family