The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was a tragedy that could have easily been prevented. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, its owners, were notoriously known for setting fires to their businesses in order to collect on the insurance. It was said that they purposely neglected to install sprinkler systems and other key safety measures as a way to ensure they could burn the business down should the need arise. These men also paid off the local police force to imprison female employees who went on strike and also paid local politicians to ignore the crimes they committed. This is yet another terrible example of how immigrants who came to our country to seek out the “American Dream” were taken advantage of and why labor laws are so important.
This story reminders me of a book (the title is lost in mind) I was assigned for summer reading as a teenager. The book follows a family of Irish immigrants who struggle to overcome deadly working conditions in sweatshops and racial discrimination in order to survive in America. It’s sad to think that sweatshops still exist and are being run by popular name-brand merchants unbeknownst to the consumers. My classmate, Heatherless, posted a snapshot that shows a sweatshop from the past alongside one from current times; it shouldn’t take death and the threat of legal action for companies to treat their employees humanly but history has continued to repeat itself. But as we saw in The True Cost documentary, posted by Hillary, the cost to manufacture clothing has gone down but it has done so at the expense of others.
The second portion of this week’s reading discusses how the state of Virginia became the 38th state to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. It was originally written in 1923 but didn’t get passed by congress until 1972. It was noted that the amendment caused a divide amongst the party members with different agendas. This reminds me of the Bell Hooks reading in which she describes how conflict arouse between the reformist vision or women’s liberation who wanted equality within the current class structure and the more radical viewpoint of building all over. The fact that the ERA just reached the required mark of three-quarters of state approval demonstrates how activism is generally a long-term investment but also reinforces the idea that we can’t really hope for change until our voices are united.
I’m anxious to see how the courts handle the passing of the ERA and the expired deadline Congress set for its ratification. I do wonder if it will result in women being drafted into the military and also can’t wait to see what other movements might be created as a result. What I found most surprising is just how little press this got and how many of my female friends and family members were unaware of the ongoing effort to get this passed. I think this just goes to show how hard at work our system is in its goal of maintaining the status quo.
