Food for thought
Re "Fields of shame," Opinion, Aug, 3
That Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has denied overtime pay to farmworkers after an eight-hour day flies in the face of justice for all workers — whether in an air-conditioned office, on the streets or in the fields.
All workers are human beings who have the right to just wages and good working conditions. To deny those rights to those whose labor puts food on our tables in favor of profit to agribusiness is unconscionable. The punishing results in lost wages and diminished health demonstrate the failure of decisions driven by profits rather than by the common good.
Lenore Navarro Dowling
Los Angeles
Harold Meyerson exposes his ignorance of farming today. The overtime bill vetoed by the governor would have hurt the very people it was supposed to help.
An average farmworker makes about $9 an hour. But much of farm labor is paid on a piece-rate basis, allowing workers to "make hay while the sun shines" during harvest.
Yes, the bill would have put California farmers at a competitive disadvantage. Farmers do not set prices and cannot pass cost increases along to buyers. The competition is global, as imported fresh fruits and vegetables are now 60% of the U.S. supply. And yes, farmers are fleeing the state for locations abroad.
Agricultural work is not office work; it's seasonal, and when it's ripe, you have to pick it — all of it — and get it to market PDQ.
Tom Nassif
Irvine
The writer is president and chief executive of the Western Growers Assn.
Race — can we talk?
Re " Obama's racial allergy," Opinion, Aug. 1
Doyle McManus makes a strong case for an on-going discussion of race. No question, prejudice is the elephant in the room, in the homes and meeting places of even those liberals one would assume to be beyond such inhumanity. Among conservatives longing to regain power, the poison of racism makes good fodder and is openly exploited.
McManus is right: Ignoring the issue of race will not make it go away or stop it from infecting our culture. But the initiative on this subject does not belong to a presiding president — especially one besieged by as many issues as Obama. Stimulating the discussion may be difficult, but address it we must.
To paraphrase the Quakers, let there be responsibility, and let it begin with me.
Peggy Aylsworth Levine
Santa Monica
Racial equality and ethnic diversity are important topics of conversation in America today. Yet to be determined is whether it is an oxymoron to think a civilized discussion on race and equality can truly take place. Such a conversation should also look at best practices from institutions where progress has been made over the last 50 years or so.
Demographers project we will be a "majority-minority" nation by 2042, so it is incumbent on us to have a conversation about race in anticipation of this change.
Finally, I would suggest that Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree lead such a conversation. Ogletree was President Obama's law school advisor and appropriately has a new book focusing on race, class and the law in America.
Philip S. Hart
Los Feliz
The writer is the author of several books about race in America.
A race "czar"! That's just what we need — another bureaucrat to tell us what to think about race and how to open a "dialogue" about it.
Come on, this is ridiculous. We've been discussing race, race relations, diversity, tolerance, affirmative action, who's up, who's down and who should go to the head of the line ad nauseam. What made Obama refreshing was that he opened the door to the irrelevancy of all that.
Contrary to McManus' call for a race czar, there's never been a time when such a person was less needed. Thankfully, racism is dying in this country. Why? Because it has become a colossal bore. And Obama's election was an enormous factor in making it so.
Racism exists, but it's a stretch to characterize a country as racist that has elected a black man as president.
Carl Moore
Lomita
The proper way to tip
Re "Is it fair to factor in tax when suggesting tips?," Column, Aug. 3
Restaurant owners know perfectly well that the suggested gratuities are calculated on the full amount. They are counting on the fact that Americans can't add or subtract, much less multiply, without the help of a calculator, and therefore won't notice.
Tell them we don't like it. We want the gratuities suggestion calculated from the pretax bill.
Wal Baur
Upland
I've long been aware of the post-tax suggested tip on restaurants' bills and have ignored them, doing my own calculation of 15% or 20% of the pretax amount.
A much more cogent question for me is whether, and how, the restaurant makes sure to pass on to the server the tip I've indicated on my credit card bill. Often, I leave the tip in cash to make sure it stays with the server.
Harold Hartman
Los Angeles
Tipping based on the price of the food is a very sore subject with me.
