"A Widespread Superstition": The Purported Invulnerability of Workers of Color to Occupational Heat Stress.

Abstract

This study explores the history of the denial of the vulnerability of non-White workers to risks of heat illness. Defenders of chattel slavery argued for the capacity of workers of African descent to tolerate extreme environmental temperatures. In Hawai'i, advocates of racial segregation emphasized the perils to Whites of strenuous work in tropical climates and the advantages of using Chinese immigrants. Growing reliance on Mexican immigrants in agriculture and other outdoor employment in the early 20th century brought forth claims of their natural suitability for unhealthful working conditions. These efforts to naturalize racial hierarchy fell apart after 1930. The Great Depression subverted the notion that people of European descent could not endure hot work. More rigorous investigation refuted contentions of racial difference in heat tolerance.