Dirty jobs worthy of respect

Ruben Navarrette of the San Francisco Chronicle reminds us that farmworkers deserve society's respect for their hard work.  North Carolina is home to over 150,000 field and poultry workers, and this Labor Day we honor the daily, hidden sacrifices they make to create a better life for their families.

Just in time for Labor Day, a reader critical of my views on immigration sends along some career advice.

"You really need to find another line of work," he wrote. "You are not worth a (expletive) at what you are doing now. I hear they need strawberry pickers."

He signed the note, "A white legal American citizen."

It's interesting that the reader felt it necessary to identify himself as white. I plan to keep this letter - and others like it - handy for the next time someone claims that the immigration debate isn't about race. It sure sounds like it is to Mr. "white legal American citizen."

Yet, what was really troubling was when the reader suggested I go out and pick strawberries. This guy owes an apology - to strawberry pickers.

I don't know whether a farmworker could do my job. But, coming from a family of farmworkers, I'm absolutely sure I could never do his.

Read more here.