White Gold- The True Cost of Cotton
"Are My Hands Clean" by Bernice Johnson Reagon is a song written about an issue that often times goes unnoticed. While reading the lyrics all that I could think about was how many different industries underpay their workers a large sum. The cotton industry is one of the main industries that underpays their workers. After watching the video that I have posted above I now realize how serious of a problem underpaying really is. Before watching this video I was also not aware that there are many foundations set up to help the victims of underpayment and to stop the problem from continuing. This video opened my eyes to a issue that I never thought about before. Next time I put on a cotton t-shirt, which is an action that the majority of us thing is innocent, I will think about the women, men, and children that worked long hours receiving little pay so that I could wear a shirt on my back. I believe that when Reagon posed the question "Are My Hands Clean?" she was referring to the innocence we think that is involved in making small items of clothes but in reality our hands are "dirty" because of what we are supporting by buying these garments.
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