Have you ever been in a conversation and been accused of playing the “race card”? Or been asked “Why do you have to make everything about race?” or “Why do you have to bring race into everything?”

There is a simple answer to this. Every time someone is referred to who is not white, their race or culture is used to describe them. Indigenous, East Indian, African American, Asian American, Latinx, BIPOC, etc. We use people’s race right up front to identify them, how could that not already be a part of the conversation?

How about we start doing the same thing when describing white people. I saw a headline go flitting across my fb feed recently about using the term White American. The article disappeared before I had a chance to read it, but it sounds like a fine idea. I’m going to start doing it. It’s only fair, right?

I’ve been thinking about cultural issues a lot lately, and I think I know why there is such resistance to providing workers with a living wage, or even considering them employees so that they earn benefits.

It’s about the commodity of time.

If workers are required to work longer and longer hours just to make ends meet, then spend the rest of their waking hours rushing around to procure the things they need for themselves and their families just to live, they lose the ownership of their time.

If one loses the ownership of their time, they become slaves who have no choice but to keep running on the hamster wheel that’s allowing the top rung to hoard obscene levels of wealth.

If one loses ownership of their time, they cannot show up to social justice actions designed to change the rules.