Urban Extension
The 2025 theme of Black History Month is African Americans and Labor. The African American workforce in the United States and Alabama has a long and complex history rooted in slavery. Slavery in the United States began in 1619 and ended with the adoption of the 13th Amendment in 1865. African slaves were used as field labor for growing cotton and other crops in the South. As industries advanced, so did economic opportunities for many people in the United States.
Post Civil War
The Reconstruction era began after the American Civil War. During this period, slavery was abolished, and the 14th Amendment enabled former slaves to work for themselves. Other amendments passed by the US Congress were the 13th and 15th Amendments. These amendments gave African Americans the right to run for political office, the right to vote, and the right to pursue an education. In addition, the US Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau to advance educational and economic pursuits across the nation.
In Alabama, the Freedmen’s Bureau provided aid—such as medical care, food, shelter, and clothing—to former slaves and poor white people from 1865 to 1872. The Bureau also helped African Americans to build schools and obtain books for learning. While it was less successful in dealing with labor issues, the Bureau did help freedmen to find work and negotiate work contracts with employers. These contracts were mainly for sharecropping and tenant farming, which led to little economic advancement.
Education Equals Empowerment
Despite the discriminatory legislation that endorsed segregation and limited economic mobility for Black people, education was seen as the key to economic progress and freedom. Education allowed freedmen to gain some economic stability and skills other than manual labor. Individuals like Booker T. Washington and William Hooper Council were educated at Freedman Bureau schools and went on to establish the Tuskegee Institute and the Huntsville Normal School (now Alabama A&M University). Washington in particular encouraged Black people to seek professions to help their communities, such as agriculture, domestic skills, and industrial training. Washington sought to prepare African Americans to enter the twentieth century. He said, “At the bottom of race, at the bottom of politics, even at the bottom of religion, there must be for our race economic independence.”
The Great Migration
By the turn of the century, African Americans in the South grew weary of limited job opportunities and headed north for a better life for themselves and their families. They learned about the job market up north from neighborhood barbers and the Pullman porters who worked on sleeping car trains. From 1910 to 1970, an estimated 6 million African Americans made that trek north during the period known as The Great Migration. Although the move to the north provided access to better job opportunities and higher pay, African Americans still faced discrimination and other challenges.
21st Century Workforce
Today, African Americans account for 13 percent of the workforce in the United States and nearly 27 percent of the workforce in Alabama. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the Black unemployment rate in the nation averages around 6 percent. However, Alabama’s Black unemployment rate is lower (around 4.3 percent) and has remained that way since 2019. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics further reports that most African Americans work in professional, service, management, and financial occupations with less than 1 percent working in agriculture.
Alabama Extension
A primary goal of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System is to improve the quality of life for all Alabama residents. Alabama Extension has had a long history of supporting Black people in labor throughout the years. The following list includes a few workforce development programs to help you get started:
Find more workforce development programs at www.aces.edu.