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Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
A blue flu is a type of strike action undertaken by police officers in which a large number simultaneously use sick leave.[1] A blue flu is a preferred strike action by police in some parts of the United States where police strikes are prohibited by law.[1][2][3][4] At times, the matter goes to court,[5] such as when officers need to undergo medical examination to prove genuine illness.[6] A 2019 opinion piece in The New York Times contrasted blue flu with a strike, calling it "a quiet form of protest, with no stated principles or claim for public attention or sympathy."[7] Unlike most strikes, blue flu tends to be focused and of short duration.[6][8][9]
The term itself[10] has been used where unions could be heavily penalized. Alternatives include "slowdown" and "virtual work stoppage."[11]
In the United States blue flu work stoppages have been used many times:
Some of the common reasons for these actions are:
Sometimes the proclaimed reason masks something else, such as when enforcing an unpopular decision is claimed to be a contract violation.[23]
In the view of police abolitionist Josie Duffy Rice, blue flu can be the result of calls for police accountability or a perceived public critique of policing or police culture of any kind, in an attempt to blackmail the public into abandoning attempts at police reform and/or removing public officials who advocate accountability.[24]
 | This section needs more citations. (September 2026) |
In Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, a novel based on the TV series Monk, the main character is given a chance to return to his city's police force during a labor dispute. It's distasteful to him that "he'll be a 'scab'."[25] A blue flu strike was also a background premise to "The Party's Over", a season 5 episode of CSI NY, aired in 2009; as well as an eponymous episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in 2021.
The idea of blue flu was referenced in the Babylon 5 episode By Any Means Necessary in 1995, with respect to a labour strike.
In Barney Miller, a sitcom about NYPD detectives in a Greenwich Village precinct, the two-part episode "Strike" depicts a blue flu strike.
planning to take part in a 'sick-out' on Wednesday
mysterious ailment that strikes police officers suddenly, overnight, during times of labor disagreements, causing them to miss a shift.
returning to their jobs after two days of the blue flu.
caseworkers get 'blue fever'
angered by .. city's Police Chief ... disciplinary proceedings against two officers involved in the killing of a drug suspect .. had been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing ..the police officers' union voted .. to ask the chief to resign.
working without a contract or pay raise since 1991 .. the last three years
the issue of station closures ... is an emotive issue
'From the police point of view, they are working a very, very dangerous job,' Thompson said
contention that the contract has been broken by a change of shifts and overtime orders ... Night shift officers have complained .. will lose their night differential if they work overtime during the day.
Calls for accountability are often met with indignance and threats to desert those most affected by crime. The practice of officers, at the slightest sign of public critique, calling in sick en masse and refusing to do their jobs has long been called 'blue flu.'
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
A blue flu is a type of strike action undertaken by police officers in which a large number simultaneously use sick leave. A blue flu is a preferred strike action by police in some parts of the United States where police strikes are prohibited by law. At times, the matter goes to court, such as when officers need to undergo medical examination to prove genuine illness. A 2019 opinion piece in The New York Times contrasted blue flu with a strike, calling it "a quiet form of protest, with no stated principles or claim for public attention or sympathy." Unlike most strikes, blue flu tends to be focused and of short duration.
Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu is the third novel by writer Lee Goldberg based on the television series Monk. In this novel, in response to a blue flu, the mayor of San Francisco reinstates several police officers who suffer from debilitating mental issues, including Adrian Monk. The squad of half-crazy detectives must contend not only with each other's eccentricities and a series of murders linked only by missing left shoes and shared birth dates, but their former friends on the other side of the labor dispute. Like the previous two books, the book is narrated by Natalie Teeger, Monk's assistant.
"Blue Flu" is the 3rd episode of the eighth season of the American television police sitcom series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and the 146th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by co-executive producer Carol Kolb and April Quioh and directed by Claire Scanlon. It aired on August 19, 2021 on NBC, airing back-to-back with the follow-up episode, "Balancing". The show revolves around the fictitious 99th precinct of the New York Police Department in Brooklyn and the officers and detectives that work in the precinct. In this episode, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association engineers a walkout of uniformed officers in response to an alleged anti-cop incident, and Holt and Amy are left to manage a short-staffed precinct. During the mission, Boyle gets worrisome medical news while gathering evidence. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 2.01 million household viewers and gained a 0.4 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised the cast, particularly Braugher's and Lo Truglio's performances.
In political science, the terms class struggle, class conflict, and class war refer to the economic antagonism and political tension that can arise between social classes due to clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequalities of power within a socioeconomic hierarchy. Commonly cited historical examples of class antagonists include slave masters and slaves, feudal lords and serfs, landowners and tenants, and capitalists and workers. The writings of several leftist, socialist, and communist theorists portray class struggle as a core tenet and a practical means for effecting radical sociopolitical transformations for the majority working class. It is also a central concept within conflict theories of sociology and political philosophy. Class struggle can reveal itself through: Direct violence, such as assassinations, coups, revolutions, counterrevolutions, and civil wars for control of government, natural resources, and labor; Indirect violence, such as deaths from poverty, malnutrition, illness, and unsafe workplaces; Economic coercion, such as boycotts and strikes, the threat of unemployment and capital flight, the withdrawal of investment capital; Political machinations through lobbying (legal and illegal), bribery of legislators, voter suppression and disenfranchisement; Ideological struggle by way of propaganda and political literature. In the economic sphere, class struggle is sometimes expressed overtly, such as owner lockouts of employees in an effort to weaken the bargaining power of the employees' union; or covertly, such as a worker slowdown of production or the widespread, simultaneous use of sick leave (e.g., "blue flu") to protest unfair labor practices, low wages, poor work conditions, or a perceived injustice to a fellow worker.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →The Greenwood District.