Read the excerpt from "Finding Unity in the Alabama Coal Mines.”Nevertheless, the UMWA was able to bridge the racial divide in that state, forming a powerful interracial labor union fifty years before the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s would make racial integration the rule of the land.

In this excerpt, “powerful” describes the union’s ability to bring workers together across racial lines and have an impact. “Influential” means having the ability to affect people or events, so it best matches “powerful.” The other choices describe physical strength, volume, or energy rather than impact.

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