When people ask me “what are you doing this summer?” I usually respond “working at a lawyer’s office.”  Obviously, this generic response does not satisfy the typical curiosity of the average person, especially if it’s a fellow law school pupil scouring to find something to compare with, or compete against.  I then go on to say  “I work at a non-profit organization that provides legal representation for agricultural workers throughout Pennsylvania, you know, doing lawyer stuff.” 

FACT:  The depth of this experience cannot be explained or verbalized in a casual answer to an otherwise polite question. The immediate response in my center of gravity is a cry of frustration, because most people don’t get it, and why should we bear the burden of explaining IT to them.   The IT is what matters here.

That living in this country is not what it seems, what you see is not what you get, you cannot have it your way, and that image is everything

     It is difficult for the average flag waving American to accept that our country, although founded on noble principles, was built on the back of slaves uprooted from their native land, and forced to work on soil stolen from its rightful owners.  You might think of me as too critical, “come on!  That was a long time ago! Things are different now”

FACT: It is highly probable that most of the fruits and vegetables that you consume are harvested, picked, or packaged by people who sometimes work under deplorable conditions, live like cattle, and work inhumane hours.  People who consider themselves lucky to get paid, although the physical consequences of back breaking labor can never be fully compensated.  Most of whom do not have the luxury of getting compensated if hurt on the job, or collecting disability or social security, even when they pay taxes.

Imagine your work day consisting of all the hours between dawn and dusk, and just when you think you can rest during the nighttime, your pioneering boss has the brilliant idea of installing stadium-like light posts throughout the farm, so lack of sunlight is no longer a good enough reason to finally rest.  You know those pretty, good-smelling trees that some of us decorate during Christmas time? They don’t originate in the north pole with toy-making dwarfs, but in farms that require intense human labor. 

Do you remember the “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 tossed, to me” inscription on the Statute of Liberty? You see, it has a disclaimer in small print (smaller than the print in car ads or credit card terms and conditions), in fact so small it’s invisible. We tend to accept those who do not look very different from us, speak English fluently, and do not hold religious beliefs that threatened us because we don’t understand them. We prefer those who remind us of US, and will benevolently issue green cards to those who seem the least threatening, or will allow the entrance of thousands who will be subjected to oppression and discrimination, but whom we’ll trust with the care of our children, the chores of our homes, or the harvest of the food that nourish us.  

FACT: It is not easy to seek help when your employer threatens you with deportation, and you’ve seen INS raids first hand.  It is impossible to seek help when laws do not fully protect your rights, you cannot communicate with those who offer services to you because they do not speak your native language, or when you are completely isolated from contact with others because your whole existence is controlled and manipulated by your unscrupulous boss.

Regardless of the workers’ national origin, ethnicity, or language of preference, all they ask in return is that we treat them with the respect and dignity that all human beings are entitled to. Before you bite into a strawberry, or buy your next pair of sneakers, think about where it came from, what it took to manufacture, and how it got to your hands.