America's Gypsies

One of my most vivid memories of Bulgaria is the many gypsies we encountered on the drive across the country from Sofia to Varna. There would be little gypsy girls no older than 12 or 13 prostituting themselves along the road and caravans full of scared, unsure adults being carted across the country in hopes of work.

Last week while driving to work it occured to me that although America does not have gypsies per say, there are certainly similarities between the way gypsies are treated throughout Europe and the way Mexicans are treated in the US. These cheap laborers are carted around in the back of pick-up trucks while their foremen drive in the cab. In one case there were four workers in the back while the club cab was only occupied by the boss man. These men, who often don't speak a word of English, sit by the road and wait for the white man to come along and offer them a day's work. They get paid next to nothing to do work that no self-respecting white man would dream of. They are pushed aside and ignored, they are taken advantage of and abused, they are considered second class humans. They are the gypsies of America.