Workers

Shocking as this may sound, I actually sympathize with Rampton and Stauber on the subject of workers. As they said, I had never read anything about Hawk's Nest in a history book, but it seems like a rather significant event.

It does seem strange how European countries that used to be monarchies all have better regulations for workers than the US. Of course, the US is a very young and diverse country. Its history probably plays a role in the difficulty of obtaining workers' rights.

Would the story of Hawk's Nest have made history books if the workers had been white? Probably not, since they were still only poor workers. If someone high up in the company had died though, we might have seen some different results.

Because people come to America from every other country, every new group becomes the lowest step on the social ladder. While blacks served as slaves in the South, Irish people worked for debt in the North. If the companies even hired Irish workers. Therefore, every group in the country jumped on the newest group that arrived in an attempt to move up the social ladder.

Irish people got along with Italians by making fun of black people. Black people and white people got along by trashing Puerto Ricans and Chinese. Because the different factions in the working class hated each other, unionizing became incredibly difficult.

And yes, the Titanic tragedy. Rampton and Stauber say that because it affected rich people, it made the history books. That is true, considering the poor people were buried on the bottom and drowned first. Only the rich could survive.

Only the rich survive. That seems like an accurate mantra even in today's society. Change will happen, but it will happen slowly. While that slow change occurs, more workers will inhale asbestos, and more rich people won't notice.