Interviews with Minority Drivers?

Drennan Truck Lines was a fairly major truck line in the late 20's and early 30's. They hauled everything from oil rig equipment to hazmat to food to just general freight.

Most of the major carriers we have today were not in existence until the mid-60's or later.

I'm sorry, sir, but I answered your question.

 

Let's back this up with links please......

And you only tell half the story btw....
Although very commendable she did not start the biz all on her own.....

a little research and:

Again....an exception and not the rule of the times...

Please show where Dennon was a nationwide carrier...

My research shows it was TX only carrier....


Now my experience with minorities in trucking is that since the 70's, many got into vocational freight such as drayage and dump trucks....

In fact the majority of L.A.D.W.P. (Los Angeles Department of Water and Power) contracts are held by minority contractors....It's been that way since the late 70's.....

I know this from a personal and professional level btw....
I used to work for brokers who got their start signing on with L.A.D.W.P. when I had a dump truck biz....


And again...I'm on your side here...but we can't refute American history...

Minorities did not have a fair chance until the implementation of Title VII in 1964.....

 

You did not specify nationwide or who started the company. You asked a specific question to which I gave a legitimate answer. Each time I have answered, you have changed the parameters of the question. On the point you are now making, you are absolutely right...with a caveat: there were very, very few nationwide freight companies before WWII because almost everything was done locally, it was too expensive to ship further than, say, the confines of Texas (regional) and the highways were such that it was time prohibitive.

That said, you are also correct in noting minority participation was not widespread before the implementation of Title VII. However, I believe the time for that has passed and we should be beyond it. My work speaks for itself. Affirmative Action muffles its voice. I, of all, should be fully aware of disparities in mainstream America. It was legal for Blacks to interracially marry before Natives. In the 60's "Indians" were still considered to be "filth."

Perhaps I misunderstood the timbre of your comments.

I hope this does not post in bold text. I'm using a different device to answer and don't want to appear to be shouting.

 

I'm asking you a question about your post, not looking for a debate with you..Btw, what were the major carriers prior to WWII?

I don't know much of the ''early history'' of trucking outside of a book I read tiltled ''TEAMSTER REBELLION'' by Farrell Dobbs. It outlined the horrific treatment of drivers and other working people.How the police,backed by the trucking companies would break heads and attack striking drivers.Mostly, it told the story of the of how the country was on the brink of a socialist revolution if the working man in this country didn't start getting a fair shake. Enter FDR..http://www.amazon.com/Teamster-Rebellion-Farrell-Dobbs/dp/087348973X

Of particular interest were the riots in Minneapolis,where Teamsters battled the police in the streets.It got so bad martial law was imposed after the police fired on striking workers.The military placed the union leaders under arrest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis_Teamsters_Strike_of_1934

 

I was a Teamster for nearly 20 years....I know their history very well....
Both sides were just as bad...the ones who suffered were the workers...

Let's remember that there were workers prior to unions....
There were also skilled craftsmen before unions....

The unions were never intended to represent skilled crafts....
Ever hear of a cabinet maker or finish carpenter needing a union to represent them?

The sole purpose of unions was to represent the assembly-line type workers....
The workers who had very little marketable skills...Many lived hand to mouth prior to joining the unions....

There were "Teamsters" before the union was formed...

The original "Teamsters" drove the wagons that were the precursors of the motorized trucks of the early 20th century....



I tried to google a list of major carriers back in the early 20th century to no avail....

I'm sure someone may find a link or two on the subject...

You have to remember that some of those major carriers were not just just "For hire"....Many were the large manufacturers/producers of the day like Bird's Eye, Hills Bros., Ford Motor Company etc......

 

Since I am a font of useless trivia, I can point out that in the European theatre, during World War II, the majority of the Red Ball Express drivers were black. I don't like the term African-American because it is not a race.
Are Jamaicans African-American? Or Kenyans? Nope.
I do concur that until we start looking past categorizing people, we will never get past the race issue in this country. Although I have to point out that as integrated as we are, you can walk into any school in my part of the country and if you lined up the kids from blond and blue eyed to the darkest black kid, you'd be hard pressed to draw the line of distinction where one race ends and another begins.
I don't know why people just can't see everyone else as individuals and move on with life. But there are too many folks getting rich by keeping fears and hatreds alive.

 

Amen!

If a black (i don't like that term either, but we'll go with it for now) person goes to canada, are they still "african-amercan?"

i think the only people who can really be "african-american", maybe, are people who immigrate to U.S. from africa.

 

All those years that minorities fought for equal rights, equal treatment, and to simply be the same as the rest of us. WASTED since we still have people that view them as differently-abled and somehow deserving of being under a microscope. Oddly enough those people that target minorities and single them out are the same who claim to be about equality.

 

I think they should be "American". My friend Derisha will go off on someone like the world is ending if they refer to her as "african-american". She will make sure they know she has never been and will NEVER be in Africa. She is American and that's it.