Labor Exploitation: A Global Economic Issue in the U.S. - Research Paper

Introduction

Labor exploitation is a global economic issue with the United States being one of the leading countries. In the United States, labor exploitation exists in many industries such as agriculture, health and care, restaurants, hospitality, and manufacturing, among others. It all emerged many years ago when the United States was seen as a land of opportunities where many could converge to seek for better livelihood, including good jobs. Most of the people crossing over to the United States either have temporary visas or lack the valid documents to keep them informal jobs. The situation forces people to perform the jobs they were not willing and intended to do in addition to the hardship of work. The affected people include the citizens of the United States and other foreign nationals whom most are rural workers, migrant laborers, domestic workers, and those who are homes. Among the racial, groups that have been affected by labor exploitation include the Native Americans, African Americans, Asian/Pacific Americans, and Chicana. The current paper examines labor exploitation in the United States and how it has impacted the four racial groups.

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Labor exploitation in the United States started as early as 1865 after legal slavery came to an end. The end of legal slavery marked the beginning of labor exploitation as the practice of forcing people to work against their will continued until today. Statistically, over 50,000 people have been exploited to work in forced environments in the country (Catanzarite, Lisa, and Lindsey, 150). Even though this number has been shrinking, it is almost difficult to end this vice considering that those exploited are hidden away. Coincidentally, most of the victims of labor exploitation are foreigners who are trafficked into the United States from countries like India, Mexico, China, and African countries. Some of them move to the United States legally or through illegal means in search for better economic opportunities only to become forced labors (Pulido, 768). The United States has been known as a land of opportunity where immigrants and migrant workers come from across the work to better their lives. The admission comes after the concede by the State of Department of the United States that the country is a transit, source, and destination for women, men, and children who are subjected to labor exploitation.

In the United States, labor exploitation occurs in various contexts, with the most significant number getting involved in domestic work. Other labors are exploited in agriculture and farm work, restaurant services, health, and travel sales crews, among other areas. In 2017, domestic workers were about two million in the country, according to the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Majority of these domestic workers are subjected to conditions of labor which reflect more of the modern day slavery (Pulido, 767). Some of these un-conducive labor conditions that reflect labor exploitation include having the pay of the workers withheld or being paid below the minimum required wage. The organizations affiliated to the National Domestic Workers Alliance also reveal that about 80 percent of the exploited workers in the United States were tricked with deceptive contracts. About 67 percent were said to have been physically abused by the employers

Available statistics indicate that labor exploitation is common in areas of agriculture and farm work where more than 30 percent of the workers earn an average of less than $10,000 in a year. The amount is below the expected federal poverty line. Besides majority are said to be held in slavery conditions without their consent and against their will since the employers use threats of violence and force them to work at low pay.

The available statistics show that most of the people who are subjected to labor exploitation are foreigners and well as the citizens of the United States. Among the victims are the people of different origins such as African Americans, Asian/Pacific Americans, and Chicana (Andrees, Beate, and Patrick, 15). Most of them are those coming from African countries and have either migrated to United States and some have lived and born in the United States. Other groups come from countries like Asia, India, and Mexico and often cross over the border to the United States to search for better living standards (Catanzarite, Lisa, and Lindsey, 157). The American citizens who have been the easy target for labor exploitation include the Native American groups who often live in poor conditions and have been left without support. Their subject to exploitation comes as a result of them attempting to look for better ways to improve their lives and that of their loved ones.

The labor exploitation of African Americans was mostly recorded in the southern states. Years after the ban on legal slavery, following the 13th Amendment in 1865, the black citizens were allowed to serve in public offices. The historians who had interest in southern history to establish the fate of the African Americans revealed that the significance of the constitutional Amendment was attuned to for some time (Pulido, 764). However, the white Southerners were not willing to accept African Americans to have their own labor with the fear that they would lose the economic monopoly and political power. At the beginning of 1900s, things started to change as African American were barred from occupying public offices especially in the southern states (Linder, 34). The decision was informed by the deteriorating agriculture-based economy that had majorly relied in slavery before the ban.

As a result, the white Southerners turned to use of the criminal justice system that could allow them to maintain the profit and control. Through this system, the white leaders used the provision that slavery and involuntary servitude were allowed to be used as punishment for crime. They took the advantage to build wealth using the labor from the black Americans (Heyman, 159). It started by arresting and conviction of the African Americans, including men, women, and children. The conviction was based on crimes emanating from petty offences against the blacks criminalized in order to keep the innocent blacks working in plantations and farms (Heyman, 160). Vagrancy, the crime of staying unemployed was introduced with the large fine that the blacks could not pay, thus forced to work in farms for the whites.

Despite the Amendment to labor exploitation, the African American continued to be exploited by the white leaders. The African American people who were convicted of the forged crimes were leased to private companies to work in industries. The process saw about 200,000 African Americans exploited into back-breaking labor in lumber camps, turpentine factories, and coal mines (Gozdziak, Elzbieta, and Micah, 14). They were forced to live in bad conditions starving and receiving beatings at the benefit of the state and private corporations that were making an enormous profit. According to state leaders, through labor exploitation, African Americans could be forced to behave in accordance with the new social order. The corporations, on the other hand, received cheap and disposable labor since they could work beyond human endurance.

The disparities in the labor policies in the United States have discriminate women of the African origin when it comes to labor market. Rather than being regarded as mothers like white women, African American women have been subjected to labor exploitation as a show of discrimination in labor force. The labor practices of the black women are a subject of the decision of the employers and the policies of the government which are already discriminatory. There has not been the change on perception from the era of slavery about black women since the majority have been as domestic workers who should not be paid. For them, they have to work regardless of their marital status and age in sectors that do not gain themselves. Sometimes, they were exploited to work as domestic workers and in farms for food to feed the family. Employers could not allow black women to work for better pay or in higher status, forcing them to work domestically for white families are little or no pay.

Native Americans were also the subjects of labor exploitation even before the European arrival. Most of the Native Americans who were exploited were the slaves who had been held as war captives even before and after the colonization by the Europeans. They were captured and taken into slavery in the European farms as those who were taken by European were made to work in small number tribes. For the Native Americans, the majority were sent to a Caribbean plantation in areas that were far from their home and communities where they were forced to work ruthlessly. Before the European, the labor exploitation of the Native Americans began as early as the 1600s with the arrival of the English colonizers who wanted to capture the Native Americans and convert them to Christianity (Aguirre, Adalberto, and Shoon, 12). The process involved forceful capture attracting the white settlers who had many farms. In order to gain cheap labor, the Native Americans were captured and forced to work for English settlers. By the time, despite working in large farms and performing other domestic duties, the workers were paid little or nothing by their employers. For the male captives, they were sold to work as labor slaves to the Virginian farmers and those in the West Indies.

During and after the war, Native Americans could hardly meet their basic needs forcing them to engage in labor to work for Europeans to make a living. The drive to work for the Europeans and others led to Native Americans being used since the labor supply was high. The employers took advantage of the huge supply to exploit those willing to work for them. Majority of those who agreed to work were paid very little (Aguirre, Adalberto, and Shoon, 10). For the few who could afford living better lives, they enslaved the war captives whom they used to work for small-scale labor. The labor market was flattened and some could not get the employment creating a gambling situation. The desperate situation of the Native American is what contributed to the situation where employers exploited them workers. Some temporarily sold their children to work in order to get food (Aguirre, Adalberto, and Shoon, 13). The case of labor exploitation of the Native people was unique such that those that were subjected to forced labor were either slaves that had been enslaved by other groups of the Native Americans or the groups accepting to work at low pay to feed their families.

The issue of labor exploitation has also impacted the Asian Americans especially those that immigrate into the United States without proper documentation. The exploitation of the Asian Workers started the time they were trafficked in the British Empire in 1830s. The situation was informed by the decision of the British leaders to deal with the labor shortages in the Caribbean colonies as many workers had been withdrawn from working in complex plantation. Due to the expanded American shippers' trade, many Chinese workers were transported into America to work in the plantations and mines (Eggerth et al 17). On arrival, the initial contracts were auctioned off subjecting the workers to forced labor with low pay. Workers' suffering increased since the labor supplied from China was excess making it difficult for the Asian workers to demand high pay as the work available was attended to by many laborers. Labor exploitation become a major issue for the Asian Americans in 1882 following the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act that barred the Chinese from entering America. The few Chinese that were allowed in the country were subjected to forced labor with very minimal pay even afte...