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.
Ah, so this is what Labour Day is about.
ReplyDeleteI 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....
ReplyDelete