Racism rears its ugly head in the deep South… again

by Navina Khanna with contributions from Joann Lo.

This summer, I traveled over 3000 miles with 20 young adults on Food and Freedom Rides that sought to shed light on our food system, and how injustice in the system—from farm to processing center to table—impacts us all. The rides commemorated the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Freedom Rides, when Black and White students sat together on Greyhound buses to challenge racial segregation in the Jim Crow South.

We kicked off at the Birmingham’s Civil Rights Institute to honor the legacy of the Alabama’s fierce Civil Rights movement, receiving a warm welcome and enthusiastic encouragement from movement participants and the community.

I’m reminded of the importance of our journey, and that the journey continues: Alabama’s racially charged past is rearing its ugly head again, with a new hateful anti-immigration bill that’s causing shocks to the state’s agricultural status quo.

HB 56 is the harshest anti-immigrant bill in the country. As Jasiri X says, it “requires schools to verify the immigration status of students upon enrollment, allows law enforcement to check the status of people they suspect are undocumented during routine stops and arrests, and prohibits renting property to undocumented immigrants. It also makes it a felony for undocumented immigrants to apply for a driver’s license, license plate, or business license. In other words if you’re a human being in Alabama with no papers, it’s a crime to live.” 1

Our industrial agricultural system is facing a harsh reality check with this new bill, and growers are feeling the heat. As undocumented immigrants leave the state, growers are unable to find people to work in the fields. It demonstrates that our agricultural system is dependent on labor from undocumented immigrants—workers who, without the protections guaranteed to citizens, can be exploited in the fields. Growers argue that they will be forced to pay workers more, and that this will drive up food costs.

The truth is, all workers should be fairly compensated, whether they’re documented or not. Seven of the ten worst paying jobs in America are food systems jobs. 2 In Florida, tomato pickers make 50 cents for every 32 pound bucket that they harvest—at the end of a good year, their wages amount to half the federal poverty level for a family of four.3 Were wages to rise, consumers would barely feel the impact. According to Philip Martin, professor of agricultural economics a UC Davis, a 40% wage increase would raise consumer household spending by just $16/year. 4

A food system based on poverty and exploitation will never be sustainable, and achieving this is contingent on comprehensive immigration reform. As our immigration policy stands, workers' undocumented status is used to keep them in fear and prevent them from organizing. We need to take away this unjust tool from unscrupulous employers who keep wages down and unfairly compete with employers who are treating their workers right—like the folks at Swanton Berry Farm in Watsonville, California. Real reform will provide a level playing field for all and help workers to organize collectively to improve their working conditions. This journey for justice will improve the food system for eaters, workers, and growers alike.
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1 http://www.blackyouthproject.com/2011/11/alabamas-hate-bill-drags-the-st...

2 http://www.causes.com/causes/457448-food-chain-workers-alliance/about

3 http://www.ciw-online.org/101.html#facts

4 http://www.prb.org/Articles/2010/usfarmworkersfoodprices.aspx

Navina Khanna is a member of Live Real at. http://www.liverealnow.org/ and the Movement Strategy Center at http://www.movementstrategy.org/
Joann Lo is executive director of Food Chain Workers Alliance at http://foodchainworkers.org/