Watching the beginning of "Matewan" again.

[Brigid]

There is a fascinating scene at the beginning where the blacks coming in on the train to work in the mines are ordered off the train outside of town and attacked by local miners who see them as scabs.

This is exactly the kind of thing the 1% wants: The rest of us fighting each other like starving rats over shitjobs.

[Blanket Statements]

1. Should the miners have welcomed the men brought in to take their jobs?

If the UAW was to bring in cheap labor to replace the unions, would you expect the union brothers to stand there and watch their replacements head into work?

[Brigid]

2. No.

But there must be s better way than fighting one another while the 1% sits back and laughs.

[Blanket Statements]

4. The miners unionized. They couldn't have done that

If they allowed themselves to be replaced

[RainDog]

12. Blacks weren't allowed to join the Unions in some places

She's talking about a story here, fwiw, and stories start in one place and end in another. In this story (SPOILER) one of the major moments is when the blacks, the immigrants (who were another group of scabs) and the locals figure out which side they're on.

The story begins when someone comes to the area to help them unionize and a walk out is part of this moment.

It's a GREAT FILM, if you've never seen it.

[Blanket Statements]

13. Seen it. Read all about the coal mine wars in college

[LanternWaste]

22. So rather, the miners eventually accepted the African-Americans who then become part of the union.

So rather, the miners eventually accepted the African-Americans as co-workers who then become part of the union.

It's rarely a binary if-then situation.

[Blanket Statements]

23. At the time, in the movie, the black workers

We're brought in to supplant the white workers. The union brought them together

[doc03]

6. Those people were not brought in by the UAW (United Auto Workers?)

or the UMWA, it was the coal operators.

[Blanket Statements]

8. You're right, I meant the manufacturer, not he uaw

[doc03]

3. Back in that day they played to everyones prejudices against Italians, Irish,

Blacks, Polish and labeled all Union people as communists. That was great movie, I would like to see it made required viewing by all schools. It is still like that in southern West virginia and Kentucky.

[Brigid]

5. I was wondering if it had really gotten any better.

[Blanket Statements]

7. WVU requires students to take a WV History class

Which includes reading about the coal mine wars.

[doc03]

9. That's great. I remember back in the 7 or 8th grade reading about the unions and the industrial

robber barons like Rockefeller, Frick, Carnegie back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
I wonder if the kids learn that part of history today.

[Brigid]

18. The first I ever heard of Henry Frick . . .

Was when I saw "The Men Who Built America" on the History Channel. Horrible, evil man. The worst of all of them, IMO.

[Brigid]

10. There is another very tense scene . . .

in the.boarding house where the Baldwin-Felts thugs are taunting Danny, and one of the thugs pulls a gun on Danny. Danny's mother is absolutely terrified. I wonder -- was she afraid the thug would actually shoot a 15-year-old kid and get away with it? After all, the coal companies practically owned the state of WV back then. Probably still do, I guess. After all, the last I knew the site of the Battle of Blair Mountain is still in danger of being destroyed by mining.

ETA: Now all, the miners -- locals, blacks, and Italians alike -- are walking off the job. That's more like it.

[CBHagman]

11. John Sayles did an amazing job with suspense in that film...

I have to admit I put off watching Matewan, despite the critical acclaim it won, because I assumed I'd be depressed after watching it.

I'm not going to pretend it isn't devastating, but I must also say I was truly impressed by what they pulled off in terms of casting and suspense. Chris Cooper was a terrific choice, especially since he was essentially unknown at the time of the film, and David Strathairn was a revelation.

Really, the best-known member of the cast at the time was James Earl Jones, who has an absolutely nail-biter of a scene I will not give away. Suffice it to say Sayles makes terrific use of intercutting.

[Brigid]

14. My favorite moment is here:

The thugs visit the mining camp while the men are not there. Three backwoodsmen come out of the trees and force them to back off. But one of the thugs scoffs at the weapon one of the backwoodsmen is holding:

"Where did you get that? The Spanish War?"

"Nope. The War Between the States."

Now, I don't know who the guy playing the backwoodsman is -- he may not even be a professional actor -- but he is responsible for one of the most memorable movie moments ever.

[Go Vols]

15. Excellent movie

good scene

[Brigid]

16. Wonderful scene.

But I do wonder why the men had not figured out what he was saying for themselves.

[Go Vols]

17. People in the South

don't attend to their best interest some of the time.

Now there are many less workers as the coal company's just rip into the mtns. with machines.



http://blog.skytruth.org/2009/12/measuring-mountaintop-removal-mining-in.html

[Brigid]

19. And Blair Mountain may suffer the same fate.

Last I knew, its future as an historical site is not secured.

[struggle4progress]

20. +

[Javaman]

21. maintaining division between subclasses is the part and parcel of the rich and wealthy.

make sure the peons can't agree on anything and the rich can/will do as they please.