I appreciate this post so much. We live in an agricultural area, literally on a road with fields of berries, and so pass by latinx farm workers regularly. I think about their lives every single day as I pass by the fields, yet, I don't know the brands these berries eventually get sold to/through, or where they wind up- and the injustice of things like discriminatory practices, denying the workers overtime, substandard housing, and on and on, are not apparent to the naked eye- I say all this, b/c it's one racial injustice I grapple and grieve over daily, but have yet to figure out how to broach it with my teenager. Maybe starting with "guess what piece of legislation was just proposed to our state legislature from a right wing apple farmer in eastern WA?" guess what? it's one to deny farmworkers overtime and force them to work even more hours up to 12 weeks out of the year at the discretion of the farmers- I could ask my son- do you know what overtime is? do you think this is fair? I wonder who that Apple farmer is? (oh surprise surprise he's a white man how attended a Christian based university- how predictable right?)
On another note I have a white male friend, very talented, very creative and hardworking, who has been running a very successful and delicious ramen shop. I don't think he's ever been to Japan. The restaurant is a Japanese word. I've eaten there multiple times, and been troubled by it since the beginning, and yet have never said anything, b/c this is how, in a tourist driven small scale island community, he is, in part able to live there full time and provide for his kids. This is not to excuse it at all, just to say that the cultural impoverishment is so deep in so many of us white people, so deep and so lost, that we just reach for whatever culture looks rich and tasty that "inspires" us. Sigh... if any fellow readers have any suggestions for how to broach this- or what paying proper respects, especially after the fact, would be helpful. The community this restaurant in is quite tight, and anyone saying something "negative" would be immediately marked. But then to me I wonder what is the consequence of staying silent? B/c I absolutely think there is one. Yet so many white people think that just because something's in the world it's there's to take. I point it out but they just wave me off.
*OMG just did a quick google of said friend's noodle bar and it's now been featured in Forbes magazine.. sigh...
I appreciate this post so much. We live in an agricultural area, literally on a road with fields of berries, and so pass by latinx farm workers regularly. I think about their lives every single day as I pass by the fields, yet, I don't know the brands these berries eventually get sold to/through, or where they wind up- and the injustice of things like discriminatory practices, denying the workers overtime, substandard housing, and on and on, are not apparent to the naked eye- I say all this, b/c it's one racial injustice I grapple and grieve over daily, but have yet to figure out how to broach it with my teenager. Maybe starting with "guess what piece of legislation was just proposed to our state legislature from a right wing apple farmer in eastern WA?" guess what? it's one to deny farmworkers overtime and force them to work even more hours up to 12 weeks out of the year at the discretion of the farmers- I could ask my son- do you know what overtime is? do you think this is fair? I wonder who that Apple farmer is? (oh surprise surprise he's a white man how attended a Christian based university- how predictable right?)
On another note I have a white male friend, very talented, very creative and hardworking, who has been running a very successful and delicious ramen shop. I don't think he's ever been to Japan. The restaurant is a Japanese word. I've eaten there multiple times, and been troubled by it since the beginning, and yet have never said anything, b/c this is how, in a tourist driven small scale island community, he is, in part able to live there full time and provide for his kids. This is not to excuse it at all, just to say that the cultural impoverishment is so deep in so many of us white people, so deep and so lost, that we just reach for whatever culture looks rich and tasty that "inspires" us. Sigh... if any fellow readers have any suggestions for how to broach this- or what paying proper respects, especially after the fact, would be helpful. The community this restaurant in is quite tight, and anyone saying something "negative" would be immediately marked. But then to me I wonder what is the consequence of staying silent? B/c I absolutely think there is one. Yet so many white people think that just because something's in the world it's there's to take. I point it out but they just wave me off.
*OMG just did a quick google of said friend's noodle bar and it's now been featured in Forbes magazine.. sigh...
Thank you for this thoughtful comment, Eleanor! I’ll reach out after my trip with a longer reply. Take care!