A Pastor Rebuts Rumors of Anti-Labor Plots
Rev. F. J. Davidson of the Olivet Baptist church addresses persistent, unfounded fears that a new organization of local Black men was created to undermine unions or facilitate mass migration.
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Rev. F. J. Davidson, pastor of Olivet Baptist church, asks The Times to make a statement correcting a wrong impression that seems to prevail in regard to the organization recently perfected among colored men. The purpose of the organization, he says, is not to fight labor unions; neither are the members to act as strike breakers. He also brands as untrue the statement that colored people from the South are flocking to Tacoma. The number of Southern negroes arriving in Tacoma since March 1 is 18, of whom four were men and the others women and children. Rev. Davidson affirms that the sole object in organizing the colored men was to promote industry and thrift among them and make good citizens.
“The purpose of the organization, he says, is not to fight labor unions; neither are the members to act as strike breakers.”
This 1904 report highlights the immediate racial tension and anti-immigrant sentiment that defined the era, where unfounded moral panics were often used to alienate Black communities. Today, Tacoma continues to grapple with the legacy of such historical exclusion, specifically in how the city's growth and labor markets are discussed in relation to marginalized groups.
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