The Modern Slave

As we discussed slaves in class this week, I began to think of my news, The Colbert Report, and last week when the  president of the United Farm Workers of America came on the show. He talked about a "take our jobs" campaign in which any American citizen could work in place migrant workers. Three people took them up on their offer. This means that although many complain that these migrant workers are taking jobs that should be reserved for Americans, they are not. The jobs are laborious and the pay is unacceptable to most U.S. citizens.

There are differences between slaves and working migrant workers, but there are also similarities. Both typically have physically demanding jobs in the fields, both have few protections and workers' rights, and both groups are unfairly demeaned and disrespected by this country. Slaves were hated for racial reasons and for being "inferior" to the whites, while similarly people today want to have all the migrant workers deported. Slaves were hated even by northerners, often in fear that they would, once liberated, take the jobs of many lower class workers, similar to how people fear these migrant workers take our jobs.