Labor Day, which is next Monday—it’s always the first Monday of September, is a good time to pause to acknowledge those still laboring.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s website: “The holiday is rooted in the late 19th century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.”

Hours of being hunched over in the sun is the life of farmworkers. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

In our current state of chaos it seems only right to shine a spotlight on the hard workers who are being terrorized because of their skin color—even if they are in the U.S. legally.

Even if they aren’t here legally, they don’t deserve to be harassed. Many are being picked up at courthouses where they are going through the legal process.

This Labor Day think about where your food comes from. The grocery store is not the correct answer.

This Labor Day think about people who work the back of the house at restaurants, who clean your hotel rooms, maybe even your home. Think about all those casino workers, the day laborers.

Many of them are here legally, were even born in the United States, but not all.

Who do you know who would take their job? Who do you know who is being negatively affected by someone who is in the United States without proper papers?

People are laboring on our behalf in ways that make our lives better. Let’s acknowledge that fact, and thank them.

I don’t understand how people who are working—usually paying taxes on those earned dollars—are a threat. (Those with fake Social Security numbers will never see a dime of those contributions.) If all they have done is come here and stayed without the proper paper work, how is throwing them in detention camps without representation and being sent to countries they have zero connection to a good thing?

How is this morally sound? How is this helping the United States? How are we allowing it?

We can and must do better. We must speak out.