By Rev. Robert (Bob) Murphy
When working people are concerned about each other, odds are they’ll love and care for each other. Grassroots programs that support diversity, equity and inclusion will appear. Such things have happened in the past, and they may happen again. Organized religion can be helpful.
However, when workers are divided by systemic racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of oppression, don’t expect much progress for working class people and other folks.
Pause for a Definition
Who and what do Americans have in mind when they talk about “working class people” in the twenty-first century? The definitions are many. In my working class ministry, I work with the understanding that the workers are the people who are dependent on wages and salaries for their economic survival. Working class people work under the direction of others. Some workers are well-respected and protected, and they’re earning six-figure salaries or better. You’ll see them in Hollywood movies and in football stadiums. On the other hand, some are working at more than one job. Working poor people often have two or three jobs, and they’re still living in camps for the homeless. Because of their poverty, they’re often treated like criminals.
The diversity in the American workforce is incredible. Every race, every ethnic group and every gender group that you can name is represented in today’s workforce. Workers have different abilities. There are children in the workforce, and there are old folks who need the money. I met a retired college instructor who is now bagging groceries for Trader Joe’s. He enjoys being active, and he likes to help people. And, he needs some extra money to pay for housing.
Diversity in the Workforce
There has always been considerable diversity in the American workforce. Back in the early 1900s, my mother’s family was involved in the great textile workers’ strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. I spoke at the centennial events. According to legend, there were almost one hundred different ethnic groups represented among the workers who went on strike in Lawrence in 1912. Many were immigrants. Citizens born and raised in the United States were also involved. Imagine what the committee meetings were like. Some workers struggled to speak English.
There were all sorts of cultural differences, but the workers understood the need for solidarity. With an enormous amount of effort, the various groups found ways to communicate and cooperate with each other, and their strike was a success.
The 1912 strike in Lawrence is remembered as “the Bread and Roses strike.” It was a triumph in the long struggle for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. In modern Bread and Roses celebrations, there are displays of different breads from different cultures. Tortillas, cornbread, bagels and pita bread are included in one large basket with other baked goods. Celtic soda bread makes an appearance in some places. Roses come in different colors, and, again, it’s important to honor diversity while working for unity in appropriate moments. Think about the different groups represented in your neighborhood and in your workplace.
Part of Our UU Heritage
Unitarians were involved with the 1912 Lawrence strike, and there may have been some Universalists present. There’s a bread and roses song in the hymnbook Singing the Living Tradition. It’s hymn 109. If you’ve been to graduation ceremonies at some of the historic women’s colleges, you may have heard the song.*
“Workers need some new songs,” said my niece Anna. Some consciousness-raising is needed. At the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa, the 2025 Labor Day celebration included Dolly Parton’s song “Nine-to-Five.” Civil rights songs from marches in Memphis and Selma were included. There was a bit of rapping and some reggae. (Listen to the songs that workers sing and listen to what they’re saying.)
Recent History and Today
As recently as 2024, workplace programs in support of diversity, equity and inclusion were supported by big government and big corporations. In less than nine months, much has changed. When new leaders appeared in Washington. diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the public and private sectors vanished. A few have survived, in part, because of consumer and worker organizing, but much has been lost, and many have been betrayed.
Why were DEI programs attacked? In part, to divide and manipulate the working class. The textile workers in Lawrence understood the situation more than a hundred years ago. When workers are divided, and when cultural differences are ignored or exploited, finding a sense of solidarity becomes more difficult. The folks who manage big government and big corporations often benefit from division. Immigrants who arrived 30 years ago are set against the immigrants who landed in the United States last month, and there will be workplace bullies who will abuse employees who dress, talk or bring unusual sandwiches or new flower displays into the office.
What Do We Do?
Sending letters of protest to Congress is possible. Some members of Congress may respond. Still, there are many working class people who know that they’ve been duped by Congress and the White House. Some workers are moving to the political right. Some are moving to the political left, and many are uncertain. Some believe that diversity, equity and inclusion programs are problematic. Some are supportive, but they’re uneasy when big government and big corporations manage the programs. In the future, the best DEI programs will be the ones that are created by working class people to help benefit working class people. Be wary of the DEI programs that are managed by the managers.
Old saying: “Political change is downstream from cultural change.” To improve the political system, work in partnership with others to change the culture. Consciousness-raising is needed, and the need for “spiritual transformation” has been mentioned by the Unitarian Universalists and others. Don’t rely on Uncle Sam and his buddies and associates to create and sustain a cooperative and empowering culture for workers. Liberte, égalité and fraternité will develop from grassroots experiences, or they won’t happen. Tenant organizations are being organized. Labor unions are being organized. Workers caught in the gig economy can help each other with transportation and other basics.
Podcasts, webinars, new books and Wikipedia help to explain mutual aid. Leaders in historic African-American churches and on Indian reservations and in the Catholic worker organizations may smile. They’ve been involved with mutual aid organizing and wellness checks for many generations. “It’s neighbors helping neighbors,” says one of my neighbors. She’s involved with a child care program supported by her church.
The United States is a pluralistic nation that has historically refused to establish one big religion. Our strength is in our diversity and in our unity. Mosques, synagogues, churches and other religious organizations provide inspiration when their leaders respect their differences while working together for the good of the whole community. National holidays are being reclaimed refocused in support of multiculturalism. Labor Day celebrations have been mentioned. In my next essay, attention will focus on Indigenous Peoples Day and on American Thanksgiving Day.
To learn more about what you can do to keep diversity, equity and inclusion a part of the fabric of your UU organization and others, you can check out resoources from UU Class Conversations and Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community.
* Diplomas are received. In a few weeks, or thereafter, many of the young women present will be in the workforce. They’ll have opportunities that their grandmothers were denied, and, also, they’ll face some problems that have long existed in workplaces.
Rev. Bob Murphy is a Unitarian Universalist community minister in Florida. Before entering the ordained ministry Bob was a business agent for an SEIU union local in New England. He taught classes for shop stewards at what is now Boston’s School of Labor-Management Relations. Bob is a mutual aid advocate who is involved in disability rights and health equity organizing. He works with UU Class Conversations and the Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community.