Farm Workers and Martin Luther King Essay Example

are meant to inform the farm owners that the workers ought to be treated well despite majority of them being not citizens of the United States (Chenoweth, 2014). King emphasized that the struggle for human rights was a contest between workers justice and injustice and not between tomatoe farm owners and workers.

Du Bois set out to show the other meaning of being black at the end of Twentieth Century. The Souls of Black Folk story has DuBois’s prophecy that color line is the problem of the Twentieth Century. Infused with the rhetorical strategies, spirit, and ideas, the letter represents King’s attempt to give the meaning of color line at the end of the civil rights era. King’s letter and DuBois’s story draws from a reservoir of African American protest rhetoric. King and DuBois are among many African American who explains well the Americans cherished ideals of equality and freedom (Chenoweth, 2014). King always called for black solidarity in his letter; this is a reflection of his frustration with no conviction among the ranks of the black bourgeoisie. King’s letter has a strong message to the tomatoe farm workers; he encourages them to protest and demand their rights without fear. Black Solidarity is his primary message since it is only through solidarity that the blacks could fight for their rights accordingly. Both King and DuBois encouraged tomatoe farm workers to join hands and boycott all duties and label those who defied the boycott as traitors.

Black Americans working in tomatoe farms were denied the chance for education. The white man had fear that the blacks would not submit to them after getting an education. Both King and

DuBois emphasizes for proper education among the farmers. However, farmers are tone between following King’s and DuBois’s advice and lose their jobs or not and keep their jobs. In the farm workers video, it is evident that the farm workers were denied opportunities to get the basic education. Long working hours and lack of institutions of learning around the farm was the primary barrier (Fair Tomatoes- Food Justice Documentary, 2016). Those with little education too were not allowed to further their education. The fact that the farm owners controlled the movement of the farm workers even made it harder to attend classes. They had to live within the farm compound. DuBois call for the establishment of technical or industrial training institutions around black communities to equip them with knowledge and technical skills that can help change their lifestyles.

The tomatoe farm workers were denied the right to vote. This action was deliberate to make sure that the workers did choose their preferred political leader who would, in turn, address their issues to the national government. The white farmers are of the opinion that the farm workers may not submit to them if they get a political leader to represent their issues to the National government. The Nation government too may decide to put up strict measures against the farm owners who mistreat their workers. In turn, this would decrease their profit since they will have to reduce the number of working hours per person and even pay the workers as per the nationally accepted standards. Laws pertaining farm workers violates many human rights in the United States (Marc Linder & Laurence Norton, 2016). According to DuBois

and King, people should unit and elect leaders who can represent their issues to the national government and make sure that laws meant to oppress and demoralize them are scrapped off or amended.

Despite the fact that the tomatoe farm workers used to work very hard under harsh conditions, the farm owners referred them as simple-minded, lazy and violent. This was as a result of racial discrimination and hatred (Chenoweth, 2014). However, according to Du Bois, the only way they could overcome this is by appreciating themselves and working together for a common goal. King reminds the oppressed such as the tomato farm workers that suffering lasts for a short time and it can be eliminated with time by creating unity among the community members and agree to advocate for their rights no matter what it would cost them.

The majority of the tomatoe farm workers in the US are immigrants. The US farmers mistreat them because most of them originate from countries with low un-employment rates, political instability, poor land reform laws, political unrest and high population growth rate (Migrant Farm Workers, 2016). King addresses these factors in his letter. He discourages the black society from working under the white man’s harsh conditions. However, most of the tomato farm workers cannot quit these jobs since they seem far much better from what they have been doing in their home countries. The fact that they can get a small amount of money at the end of the month makes them tolerate the harsh conditions and underpayment (Migrant Farm Workers, 2016). The immigrants cannot leave the United States due to the monitory benefits. As such, the farm owners

take this advantage since the Whites cannot accept poor pay (Marc Linder & Laurence Norton, 2016). In addition, most of the whites are not attracted to these poorly paying jobs.

References

• Chenoweth, E. (2014). A Discussion of Gospel of Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail and the Struggle that Changed a Nation By Jonathan Rieder. Perspect. Polit., 12(03), 716-717. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1537592714001789
• Fair Tomatoes - Food Justice Documentary. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 12 November 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBDkTCKAGBQ=desktop
• Marc Linder and Laurence Norton. (2016).Retrieved 12 November 2016, from https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
• Migrant Farm Workers: Our Nation's Invisible Population - eXtension. (2016). Articles.extension.org. Retrieved 12 November 2016, from http://articles.extension.org/pages/9960/migrant-farm-workers:-our-nations-invisible- population