Press Action ::: Shameful Harvest: An American Tradition

Saturday, January 08, 2005

Shameful Harvest: An American Tradition

By Rosemarie Jackowski

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." -Thomas Jefferson

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” -Emma Lazarus

The Declaration of Independence has been shredded and Lady Liberty has been shunned. The United States does not practice the ideals that those icons represent. We should stop the hypocrisy. The wide support of Arizona Prop. 200 is a perfect example of how low our humanity has fallen.

The U.S.-Mexican border should be completely open. There is no logical reason for restricting travel back and forth across that border.

The threat of terrorism is serious and is a direct result of U.S. foreign policy; but does anyone really believe that, even if every linear inch of our southern border was patrolled, we would be safer? A threat to safety is less likely to originate at our southern border than many other places. The entire eastern seaboard is far more vulnerable, with its thousands of hidden coves, fishing camps, and the hundreds of miles of the intercoastal waterway. Of course, concern about terrorism is not the real reason for the attention being given to the border. The real reason is racism and economic classism. Also, there is the myth that “they” are draining our resources. In fact, the opposite is true. Many undocumented workers contribute to the Social Security system and never collect from it.

Our brothers and sisters from south of the border should not only be welcomed but should be welcomed with open arms. They have worked for generations in our Harvests of Shame. In 1960, CBS Reports aired the documentary, Harvest of Shame. This is still one of the best films ever produced. It showed the extreme abuse suffered by farm workers and migrant laborers in the U.S. An excellent updated version aired on PBS Frontline, New Harvest, Old Shame. Hopefully, those who support Arizona Prop. 200 will educate themselves and re-think their positions.

For generations, the United States has been benefiting from the backbreaking labor of those who work the fields. We must start paying our debt to farm workers. Farm workers comprise the most necessary and the most under appreciated work force in our nation. Their work is sometimes life threatening and almost always hazardous, due to exposure to the chemicals introduced into our food supply by large farming operations. Housing conditions are usually sub-standard.

The Southwest is not the only location of cheap, imported, farm labor. In the Northeast, some of the apple crop is harvested by workers from the Caribbean Islands. They work hard, support the local economy, and they should be offered a full package of benefits, including health coverage, educational opportunities, and pension plans. The apple pickers usually do not bring their families with them, so the U.S. should build and finance hospitals and schools in the islands for the families left in the Caribbean. The workers should also be given the option of relocating with their families to the U.S.

Remember the image of President Reagan sternly demanding, “Tear down that wall...” ? We are such masters of hypocrisy. We need a loud national voice that will demand, “Open that border.” To do less than that, is a public admission of the depths to which our national conscience has fallen.

If all men are created equal, then it follows that all men are deserving of the same dignity, respect, and legal rights. The denial of equal legal rights to anyone, because of the location of his birth, places an unfair burden, a kind of Birth Tax, on him. To grant anyone privilege based on the geographical location of his mother, at the time of his birth, is a violation of the fundamental principles of democracy.

Rosemarie Jackowski is an advocacy journalist living in Vermont. She can be reached at dissent@sover.net.

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