The United Fruit Company’s white power policy is currently under investigation by the Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This action was precipitated by the complaints of a black U.S. citizen, Thomas J. Cole, who is filing charges against the company for its policy of excluding blacks from overseas employment.
The EEOC’s General Counsel said ” The Commission has assumed jurisdiction, pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, over the employment of our citizens by United States corporations for positions available in their overseas offices…” Initial EEOC investigations of the United Fruit Company’s (and its subsidiaries’) employment policy has revealed a company policy of promoting only “Anglo-Saxons married to Anglo-Saxons” for supervisory positions in “the Tropics”.
This company has maintained its racist policy in more than half a dozen Latin American countries for over 50 years, often in areas with over 80 percent black population. The United Fruit Company has been among the first to press for U.S. military intervention whenever its overseas operations have been jeopardized by threats of expropriation and nationalization (e.g.,Guatemala 1954, Dominican Republic 1965). Black U.S. citizens in uniform have risked their lives protecting the properties of a company whose policies bar them from employment.
(For further information write to Thomas J. Cole, 20730 Coral Sea Road, Fla. 33157)
