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The Sadness of the Jornalero
How many words have been written about the jornalero? How many about his sadness and his impenetrable silence?
Very few words have been written, however, about the reason of his sadness: the marginalization he endures.
Fundamentally, every single one of the day laborers is a human being, and from this perspective, he is not different from
any other human being in this country. But the reality is another one.
The jornalero does not fully participate in the economy of a nation that reaps from cheap labor, and they are not
appreciated. They do not receive but the crumbs and the leftovers of a society satiated in the gluttony of its prosperity, and
this only sometimes.
Day laborers are not even aware, nor convinced, that as the persons they are, they have basic constitutional rights. Do we
need to go back to the dictionary to learn the definition of person? Jornaleros have no means to improve their precarious
conditions; tides of discrimination and rejection have plunged them into their despair and their sadness.
There are many people whose ancestors —or even themselves— who were immigrants at one time, who are ashamed
today of the day laborers. They choose to close their eyes as to not see his hunger or the rags in which they are humbly
dressed. These individuals are not aware that if the jornalero is a shame, it is a shame of a society that has made
criminals of dispossessed men seeking for work, but have no jobs, no status, and almost no hope.
Day laborers have also been used and abused as a political catalyst to encourage the vilest emotions against human
beings, against unfortunate men who wander in a hostile piece of planet Earth, face antagonism and insults, and endure
the demons of hate and verbal violence. An almost impossible endeavor they embark onto, risking their lives, just to
attempt to put food on a humble table in their impoverished homes, back in their underprivileged countries.
However, the capacity of Latin American immigrant workers has been demonstrated over and over again. The mind of the
jornalero is capable of transforming him into a skilled worker, and into an integrated and positive contributor to society.
Why to despise, then, this great source of human energy?
Giving day laborers their proper value and dignity both as human beings and workers is not a matter of being just
compassionate, or to just promote a society that protects them in the same sense that we strive for societies that protect
animals. It is about something more profound: to treat the jornalero as a human being who is intrinsically entitled to earn a
living to survive, and to feed his stomach and those of the family he teary and reluctantly left behind.
Have we lost all sense of humanity? Have we forgotten that our ancestors were also seeking to improve their lives to
make ours the enjoyable experience we use today to despise the less fortunate?
Let us take advantage not only of the hands but also the mind of the jornalero; let us give him a chance to rise up from his
misery; let us treat him with the same eagerness we treat ourselves when our own stomachs are hungry.
Copyright © 2008 Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
Grassroots Journalism
www.barriozona.com
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By Eduardo Barraza
BARRIOZONA
January 14, 2008