I’m all for Labor Day, really I am. Any governement sanctioned day off that I can use to spend time with my wife and son is a good day. Any day that recognizes the average working Joe, which I am, is a day I can support. Any day that encourages firing up the barbecue and swilling (lite) beer simply cannot be a bad day. In fact we need a second day off during the year for all of our hard work. Or should I say for all of our ancestor’s hard work.
I think that in addition to our existing labor holiday, which was no doubt started to give white folk a day off, there should be a “Slave Labor Day.” During that day we would be required to pay homage to the laborers that built this country. The ones that didn’t get paid to work the fields from sun up to sun down, or to take care of master’s kids and keep his house clean, or the ones that built our nation’s capital. We would not honor them with ribs and brew, but with community events and history lessons for the kids. No shopping, no buying gas, no contributing to the economy on any way for one day a year. It would be a show of strength as well as a way to remember what was. A day of understanding the importance of our place in this country and our place in history. Perhaps only black people would get the day off (I’ll have to think about that one).Â
We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. Happy Labor Day.
One thing people don’t talk about much, or at least not in plain English, is the European version of slavery (serfdom). I’ve always wondered if it isn’t racism behind the different terminology itself. Many white Americans are descended from people who were bought and sold with the land they were required to live on. This may be especially true of most people of Russian heritage, where the vast majority of the population were serfs until barely more than a hundred years ago. These people were often conquered and absorbed, as opposed to being stolen and transported, but more people than would like to admit have slavery in their past. In which case, Slave Labor Day might be a good idea for everyone.
I think this is a good idea, brother.