Tom Geen
Matt Cameron
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Charlie LeDuff, a reporter for the New York
Times got a job at a slaughterhouse in North
Carolina. He examined the day to day racial
interactions between employees and from the
management at the factory.
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Common areas like locker rooms and
cafeterias were self-segregated.
Jobs seemed to be given out based on the
race of the person.
Racial stereotypes were used by minorities
toward other minorities.
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“Who that cracker think he is? . . . [He] keeps
treating me like a Mexican and I’ll beat him.”
“She decided it wasn’t just blacks that were
lazy”
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Why is work at Smithfield Packing Comapany
controlled primarily by a quota system?
At the very beginning of the article, LeDuff
describess the Smithfields Company as if it were
a prison. What qualities of Smithfield lead LeDuff
to make this comparison? In what ways does
Smithfield punish the individuals who work there?
Thinking of his social writing on workers,
capitalism and exploitation, what do you think
Karl Marx might have to say about LeDuff's
description of how the Smithfield Packing
Company is run?