Not quite. The farm workers activism in the 1960s and continuing today, reduced some of the horrid conditions. They are still shit jobs for sure. The visas that allow unskilled workers for jobs anyone anywhere (like here) can be trained to do, are iffy. They can resemble slavery, in that passports are taken, pay not provided, etc.
Not quite. The farm workers activism in the 1960s and continuing today, reduced some of the horrid conditions. They are still shit jobs for sure. The visas that allow unskilled workers for jobs anyone anywhere (like here) can be trained to do, are iffy. They can resemble slavery, in that passports are taken, pay not provided, etc.
While the farm workers activism reduced some of the indignities at the time, I think just following ProPublic and other independent sources like that you can find stories of horror in farm work still. I know I have certainly read quite a few.
In the 1980s there were Haitian men kept in slave camps in Florida to work agriculture. I cannot remember if it was oranges or bananas or both, or pineapple, but it was clearly slavery, and they were locked in barracks at night. I read an article about it many years, but more recently cannot find anything. I did however find that this practice continues with different groups. I mean people work for no money.
The 13th Amendment allows for slavery of people in prisons, and we see this is big business particularly in Southern States, and I see the Confederacy never really dying in this country.
My White German mother worked in slavery when she came to the USA. She ended up in the San Juan Islands working at a Millionaires' daughter camp as she described it to me and my daughter as we interviewed her at different times about it. My mom told me all the help on the island was foreign, and they did not pay them. My mom was offered a job making topographical maps by a woman who came to visit and stowed away on a ferry to get back to the mainland. Making people work and not paying them is the definition of slavery. My mom ended up moving from Seattle when she was accepted to a PhD program in Chicago, but still, she has stories of when she came to the US that show how willing people here are to exploit foreigners.
Good Lord! What a horror story your mother experienced! (My German GGM came to the U.S. as an indentured servant. She worked for 7 years without pay to pay back -- probably 10 times over -- the cost of her passage. That was normal back in the 1880's.)
I agreed with you regarding slavery in the US. The example of the San Juan Islands is a case in point. Except for the locals, it is inhabited by the very rich, usually owning vacation homes, who are the worst kind of people. They of course use foreign workers with no safety net rather than offer the jobs to people who can complain. Or quit.
Linda, WOW, I didn't know slave labor using people from prison was legal, AND in the 13th amendment! This community provides a wealth of experiences, high quality info, and all around fine people.
Actually Dolores Huerta was the organizer and power behind Chavez. He was the face and did do good work definitely. Just thought I'd mention the woman without whom it would have not been as effective.
I grew up in Central CA and witnessed first hand the living conditions of the farm workers. I used to ask my mom if we could play with the little kids working, and I mean little, but she would rush us indoors.
Yes, my parents were white land owners who paid someone to provide labor. No questions asked.
My mom also tells of picking blueberries. I never got to see that side of life in Seattle when I was a child and we visited my very wealthy Godparents. It was a world of contrasts.
When I taught in Chicago Public Schools I had a student in my fourth grade class, that would go to Mississippi in the summers and pick cotton. He was a super bright child who was excellent at math. Such a contrast his life in Chicago and his life in Mississippi, in the 1990s.
Hannah, ty for the Delores Huerta info. I remember growing up in white bread Portland, OR. My parents and their friends (middle class, no money) bitched and were pissed off every time Cesar Chavez was in the news. These working class whites, from struggling to stay afloat backgrounds, resented his work for better living conditions, better pay, anything for farm workers.
Not quite. The farm workers activism in the 1960s and continuing today, reduced some of the horrid conditions. They are still shit jobs for sure. The visas that allow unskilled workers for jobs anyone anywhere (like here) can be trained to do, are iffy. They can resemble slavery, in that passports are taken, pay not provided, etc.
While the farm workers activism reduced some of the indignities at the time, I think just following ProPublic and other independent sources like that you can find stories of horror in farm work still. I know I have certainly read quite a few.
In the 1980s there were Haitian men kept in slave camps in Florida to work agriculture. I cannot remember if it was oranges or bananas or both, or pineapple, but it was clearly slavery, and they were locked in barracks at night. I read an article about it many years, but more recently cannot find anything. I did however find that this practice continues with different groups. I mean people work for no money.
The 13th Amendment allows for slavery of people in prisons, and we see this is big business particularly in Southern States, and I see the Confederacy never really dying in this country.
My White German mother worked in slavery when she came to the USA. She ended up in the San Juan Islands working at a Millionaires' daughter camp as she described it to me and my daughter as we interviewed her at different times about it. My mom told me all the help on the island was foreign, and they did not pay them. My mom was offered a job making topographical maps by a woman who came to visit and stowed away on a ferry to get back to the mainland. Making people work and not paying them is the definition of slavery. My mom ended up moving from Seattle when she was accepted to a PhD program in Chicago, but still, she has stories of when she came to the US that show how willing people here are to exploit foreigners.
Good Lord! What a horror story your mother experienced! (My German GGM came to the U.S. as an indentured servant. She worked for 7 years without pay to pay back -- probably 10 times over -- the cost of her passage. That was normal back in the 1880's.)
My mom came in the end of the 1950s. She also came on a ship.
I agreed with you regarding slavery in the US. The example of the San Juan Islands is a case in point. Except for the locals, it is inhabited by the very rich, usually owning vacation homes, who are the worst kind of people. They of course use foreign workers with no safety net rather than offer the jobs to people who can complain. Or quit.
Linda, WOW, I didn't know slave labor using people from prison was legal, AND in the 13th amendment! This community provides a wealth of experiences, high quality info, and all around fine people.
Thank heavens for that. (Caesar Chavez was a leader of that movement, wasn't he?)
Actually Dolores Huerta was the organizer and power behind Chavez. He was the face and did do good work definitely. Just thought I'd mention the woman without whom it would have not been as effective.
I grew up in Central CA and witnessed first hand the living conditions of the farm workers. I used to ask my mom if we could play with the little kids working, and I mean little, but she would rush us indoors.
Yes, my parents were white land owners who paid someone to provide labor. No questions asked.
My mom also tells of picking blueberries. I never got to see that side of life in Seattle when I was a child and we visited my very wealthy Godparents. It was a world of contrasts.
When I taught in Chicago Public Schools I had a student in my fourth grade class, that would go to Mississippi in the summers and pick cotton. He was a super bright child who was excellent at math. Such a contrast his life in Chicago and his life in Mississippi, in the 1990s.
I tried picking grapes and cotton. Lasted less than half an hour. It's really hard work, and then my dad withheld the pay he promised. A whole dime.
Isn't that absolutely stunning? He stepped back 140 years every summer, then would come back to the 1990's. Do you know what became of him?
Hannah, ty for the Delores Huerta info. I remember growing up in white bread Portland, OR. My parents and their friends (middle class, no money) bitched and were pissed off every time Cesar Chavez was in the news. These working class whites, from struggling to stay afloat backgrounds, resented his work for better living conditions, better pay, anything for farm workers.
Sadly, that attitude, racism, is still alive and well.
Thank you very much for this information. Interesting how the woman was invisible to (most?) people. A little child shall (try to) lead them.