I digress from my candidate review to briefly discuss a topic closely tied to my vote. First an excerpt from a blog I wrote in July 2007:
Exploiting people at a distance makes it much easier, wouldn't you say?
It would be much more difficult for me if on my way to buy a cup of coffee in the morning I had to walk by the impoverished hut of the coffee farmer who raises his family with scarce food, no education, no health care options, and no hope. It would be much more difficult for me if on my way to make a quick Wal Mart run I had to see the mother who toiled for pennies to make the things I purchased, see her holding her malnourished 4-year old boy that looks a lot like a thin, tired version of my own son. It would be much more difficult for me to enjoy the return on my investment if on the way to my mailbox for my earnings statement I saw across the street the stripped ecosystem and the newly unemployed natives sitting in the mud of what was once foliage.
But no, I am safely insulated from the results of my exploitation. I allow my willful ignorance to hide the fact that I am an oppressor of the vulnerable and that I am complicit in acts of gross injustice.
Lest we think these acts of gross injustice only happen outside the borders of the United States, I submit this column regarding recent events in Florida:
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Monday, January 28, 2008
It should have been shocking to hear that two weeks ago, federal authorities indicted six people from Immokalee on slavery charges. But most Floridians have learned enough in recent years not to be too surprised by revelations regarding brutal violations of human rights in the state's farm fields.
Still, the six arrests represent one of the most significant slavery cases the government has made. Federal prosecutors claim that Antonia Zuniga Vargas and five members of the Navarette family - Cesar, Geovanni, Jose, Villhina and Ismael - held more than a dozen Guatemalan and Mexican workers against their will. The defendants, who collectively face charges that could imprison them for decades, are accused of making the workers pick produce and then sleep in trucks and shacks. The migrants had to pay for food and showers and were threatened with beatings if they tried to leave. The abuse allegedly goes back three years.
The case came to light in November only because three workers, with fresh bruises from their beatings, were able to break out of a truck and tell their story to Collier County deputies. A dozen other slavery cases have surfaced in Florida during the past decade, but none with as many victims.
The abuses in Immokalee are further evidence of the nation's dire need for comprehensive immigration reform that will relieve millions of migrant workers from having to live secret lives and give them protections against exploitation. The arrests also validate the efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an advocacy group that has exposed a half-dozen slavery cases and promoted a penny-a-pound plan with buyers to increase the wages of tomato pickers.
As politicians remain stuck on the issue, the Immokalee story shows that the state has more immigrants living as slaves, hoping to be freed. Washington's inaction remains shocking.
By the way, these are the people against whom I am supposed to be filled with outrage that they dare come into my country without permission. A mere quirk of heredity that I am even in the position of choosing such a selfish response.
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2 comments:
I found it interesting to note that the immigration status of the enslavers was not mentioned. My guess, they are here legally, if not citizens. We'll keep those types of folks, but send back those others. All the illegals want to do is work and attempt to find a better existence for themselves and their families. I would like to think that if the quirk of fate were reversed, I would do the same so that Laurie and Soph could have a chance at surviving.
It is a sad commentary when we view these individuals, not as other humans needing a break (arguable whether the circumstances described constitute a break or not, but I digress), but as law-breakers who are stealing food from my table. I'm pretty sure I could do with less food on my table (methaphorically speaking but literally as well again I digress).
My question to people who want to send back the illegal immigrants: who was the last person you knew who lost their job cleaning a hotel, picking crops, working in a poultry plant (I realize those are stereotypical jobs for illegals but there is a reason they are stereotypical)? My guess, no one. We as Americans are too good for those jobs. The media and the powers that be (Republicans mainly) have done a good job getting the public to believe that waves and waves of illegals are in the country taking jobs from you and me and using our schools (how dare they give their children and education) and our hospitals (how dare they get treated for diseases--this one is a tenuous argument for me because I doubt that an illegal is willing to run to the hospital at the drop of a hat) and using our public infrastructure and on and on and on. Should they have gone through the proper channels, yes. Could they have gone through the proper channels, unlikely as that takes money and they don't have any. Should they be sent back, no. Allow them the chance to legalize their status. I would gladly add 4 or 40 Million hardworking individuals to the citizenry of the United States. Now if only we could get rid of the folks like the enslavers.
Thanks for the thoughts. Immigration is a great topic these days, I am thrilled to have so many opportunities for passionate discussion in this area.
Here I was trying to get at exploitation of others for my benefit. I believe we have a moral responsibility to know whether our coffee, our t-shirt, our Burger King cheeseburger exploits another just to keep my prices down.
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