Sunday, January 10, 2010
"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."~excerpted from: The Declaration of Independence, 1776
Our nation was born out of protest and since then, various protests and rebellions have led to the end of slavery, the 8 hour workday (and weekends), women's suffrage, and...at least in theory...equal rights for most.
I'd like to hear of any instances where you or a family member participated in or witnessed some type of protest and/or rebellion. Please post your stories here and in the next few weeks we'll have an online conversation about these protests and the ones we discuss in class. I look forward to hearing from you!
6 comments:
This is Greg. What's up?
Years ago (unfortunately, I don’t know the year), my father was involved in a protest against his employer for denying workers a wage increase. The workers felt they were not getting their fair share of the money.
The workers were underpaid. They worked the first year without receiving a raise. Upon being hired as truck drivers earning $4.00 per hour, the workers were promised incremental raises. At 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and one year, the workers were promised a $.25 raise, but the company did not keep their word. After working for a year without a pay increase, the workers asked for a raise, but it was not given to them. In an effort to discourage the workers from joining the union, they finally offered a $.25 raise. The workers felt cheated, so they declined the offer. They proceeded to join the union for assistance in fighting to get what was due them. Ten people from the union walked the picket line for 3 ½ days before the company agreed and signed a new contract. The union was successful in obtaining an increase of $1.51 for the truck drivers. At that time, top wages for truck drivers were $5.51 per hour. The truck drivers worked 10 hour days, and received no overtime pay. Although not a part of the protest or negotiations, workers should have received overtime pay after working 8 hours, at time and one-half of their wages. The protest ended with the signing of a new contract between the parties and a $1.51 increase in wages.
Hey Mr. Pond, we moved into our house in 1974,75 when i was about 4 or 5. It was a predominently white neighborhood. We were four out of about five African-American families. They protested our being there. But mom and dad refused to leave. Fortunately things have changed tremendously but sadly some things remain the same.
I attended a Lutheran School in Second Grade and I was 1 out of 3 African-Americans in my class. The Caucasian kids made fun of me and did not want to hang out with me or the other 2 kids. The same ratio was appliable at my 3rd and 4th grade school; however, the racial conflict did not exist.
Thank you for your posts! gbsmartone--how did you handle the racism you experienced in your second grade classes? Were any changes made?
I didn't have a choice to respond to the situation. Eventually i was transfered to a different school.
Post a Comment