Quote: (01-13-2018 06:52 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:
Quote: (01-12-2018 05:39 PM)Pancho Wrote:
The only type of people in the history of the US who has ever done this type of backbreaking work has been African Slaves and Mexican illegals. There's no work-ethic among the native born Americans in regards to this type of work. I seriously doubt that if you raise the hourly rate to 15 bucks an hour for strawberry and watermelon picking Americans will automatically leave their cities into the countryside to do this type of work.
Before illegal immigration from Mexico following 1960s, there was no agriculture in USA. Want to buy a watermelon? You're shit out of luck.
It's also worth mentioning that at that time there were no restaurants either. If you wanted to eat out at a nice place, you'd better have been prepared to wash the dishes yourself.
There were also no luggage handlers, postmen or maids. Born in an era before Mexican illegals? Better get your own mail because sure as hell no red-blooded American will bring it to you!
Finally, my grandpa who worked for the UN traveled to US on a few occasions after WW2 and I remember him describing how interesting it was that the elevator in his hotel was manually pulled up by black slaves turning cranks.
Their balls-and-chains were tied to the elevator cables, so if one of them stopped pulling the others would get pulled into the grotto and crushed. A gruesome system, but absolutely necessary since without Mexican illegals there was no one to do it.
Most people don't know this.
Not sure if being sarcastic or not but you're actually making my point.
This is where I'm trying to get at.
Service type jobs are probably the most underrated and underappreciated jobs in the history of the U.S.
Before 1960 who did these types of jobs you say? Its easy, poor African Americans from the time of 1860 up until 1960 during reconstruction, Jim Crow and Black codes. African American women were maids, housekeepers, and men were Butlers, servers, dishwashers and usually got paid shit and under the table, but because of the racist tendencies of that time, they got paid under the table and paid like shit.
From the 1940s up until the 1960s. Mexican nationals were working the farms under the Bracero program got paid something like 30 cents an hour.
This country got rich off the backs, sweat and tears of African slaves and their immediate descendants and Illegal Mexican laborers. Americans really love their slave and cheap labor. Its as American as Apple Pie and it hasn't change one bit today.
Comedian Paul Mooney said it best. "Mexicans worked for a quarter, but Blacks worked for free."
Most people overlook this part of our history, but its a very important one. Someone had to do these jobs, it just so happens that the poorest of poorest on the socioeconomic ladder are always stuck with the burden of doing them.