However, white
workers usually saw blacks as job competitors rather than as part
of a mass labor alliance. In 1866 the National Labor Union
decided to organize black workers within its ranks, but by 1869
it was urging colored delegates to its convention to form their
own separate organization. This resulted in the creation of the
National Negro Labor Convention. This split between black and
white workers tended to push blacks into political action while
whites put all their efforts into economic advancement.
The Knights of Labor was formed in 1869, and it did seriously
try to organize blacks and whites. In the North it operated mixed
locals, and in the South it had separate black and white
organizations. It employed both black and white organizers. In
1886 its total membership was estimated at 700,000 of which
60,000 were black. The following year its total membership had
shrunk to 500,000, but its black membership had increased to
90,000. The early labor movement which strove to organize the
mass of industrial workers was soon replaced by skilled trade
unions which aimed at the organization of a labor elite.
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