Happy Labor Day! It's de rigeur
to decry the fact that the meaning of the holiday has been forgotten:
It's Labor Day, and that means millions of Americans are celebrating. Most Americans have no idea what Labor Day is, other than self-serving political speeches, hot dogs, burgers, a pool party, and the last day of a three-day holiday. Few even know that Labor Day exists to allow people to remember and honor the struggles for respect, dignity, and acceptable wages and working conditions for the rank-and-file employees.
Seems a perfect time to remember and honor, then, the labors of Chinese Americans in building the railroads. Check out the Central Pacific Railroad Museum's
Chinese-American Contribution to Transcontinental Railway
. And you might want to check out this children's book about Chinese Americans building the railway,
Coolies.
2 comments:
Ah, so this is what Labour Day is about.
I don't remember studying any of this in high school.
It's funny, I was at the grocery store today and they had a Labor Day display that demonstrated they clearly thought Labor Day was another Memorial Day. Uhh...hello...they are two different holdidays....
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