At a Slaughterhouse Some Things Never Die

Charlie LeDuff

Summary of the Article Tar Heel North Carolina Largest pork factory in the country Hierarchy of social status based on race Whites get the supervision and management jobs as

they look over and drive the blacks and mexicans Blacks and mexicans get the “dirty jobs” as they are

put in charge of slaughtering the hogs and slicing and dicing them into the desired pieces

Women are also assigned jobs based on race Pay is 7.70$ an hour for an eight and a half hour

shift with minimal breaks and bone crushing work The mexicans can not fight back against the cruel

treatment of the white supervisors because the majority of the workers to not have legitimate citizenship. Everything is fraud so the owners have the power to pay them and treat them as they wish knowing that this is the only job they can get

The racial divide does not only take place in the assigning of jobs but on a much less important scale in the lunchroom. Whites sit with whites, blacks with blacks, mexicans with mexicans

Town has higher murder per capita that Detroit and Newark

Discussion Questions

• In the 21st century, how is it possible that this kind of intense racism still exists without any authority challenging it?

• How can the social status of the blacks and mexicans be equivalent to the white man in this town or can it ever be at all?

• To what degree does the acceptance of poor treatment by the minorities fuel the strict divides and harsh relations?