Jesse Jackson | |
Jesse JacksonJesse Jackson, "Who Makes the Clothes We Wear" Jesse Jackson (1941- ) was born in Greenville, South Carolina, earned
a B.A. from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, and
studied at the Chicago Theological Seminary. He earned a Master of Divinity
Degree in 2000. Jackson worked with Martin Luther King Jr. for the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, and was national director of its Operation
Breadbasket program. He went on to found and lead PUSH (People United
to Serve Humanity) and the Rainbow Coalition, a national social justice
organization. Those two social organizations merged in 1996. He also ran
for U.S. President twice, in 1984 and 1988. Jackson's books include Straight
From the Heart (1987), Keep Hope Alive (1989), and Legal
Lynching: Racism, Injustice, and the Death Penalty (1996), which he
co-authored with his son. He also contributes to periodicals such as the
Journal of Housing and Community Development, Newsweek,
and USAToday. "Who Makes the Clothes We Wear?"
takes a look at some of the terrible conditions some garment workers face.
It was first published in 1995 in the Chicago Tribune. | QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION | CONTENT - Describe a working day in El Salvador as recounted by the author.
- List the countries named in the first three paragraphs. What do
these countries have in common?
- About how much did Nike pay for product endorsements to athletes
and teams at the time of this writing?
- Why do you think the author describes working conditions in California?
- In what ways is the author critical of the Republican Party?
- What is the relationship of globalization to the workplace abuses
Jackson recounts?
STRATEGY AND STYLE - Jackson links the first three paragraphs by repeating the words
Wouldyou. How do the paragraphs build? How effective
do you find this rhetorical technique?
- Find a metaphor in paragraph six in which the author compares a
time bomb to something else. What's the whole comparison and what image
does it evoke? How can you tie this imagery into Jackson's ideas about
this labor struggle?
- Take a look at the examples the author provides in paragraph eleven.
How persuasive do you find them? How do they build upon information
he provides earlier in the essay?
- How can you see this piece as a call to action? What is Jackson
calling upon people to do? Which people? How?
| ENGAGING THE TEXT | - Imagine you're in a Gap store, looking for a pair of pants. (Feel
free to change the store if you like.) What's the number one thing you're
concerned about when you're searching? Explain, in light of what you've
learned in this essay.
- Where do you position yourself in regard to the slogan: "Think
globally, act locally"? How might have this position affected your
relationship with this piece?
| SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINED WRITING | - Should businesses always seek out the cheapest means to produce
the things they want to sell? Explain, in light of your reading and
your own observations, detailing the limitations on business approaches
in this regard and whose duty it is to enforce such approaches.
- Think of a job you've held in order to come up with the three most
important things you'd like to see in a "Workers' Bill of Rights."
Write an essay that clearly delineates your concerns and hopes in such
a matter.
| FOR FURTHER RESEARCH | Pick one of the celebrity endorsement scandals that has been a news item
over the past few years. (If you don't recall one, do some research to
find out about one.) Then, answer these questions: What celebrity, company,
and products were involved? In what country were the products made? Under
what conditions? What action did the celebrity and company take? To what
effect? | WEB CONNECTION | If you'd like to put Jackson's work into a historical context, you will
want to know something about the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. To
get you started here's a good general page
about the Civil Rights Movement from The Encyclopedia Britannica. | LINKS | Biographical Here's a fairly comprehensive biography
of Jackson with some links from TeacherVision.com. The PBS program Frontline prepared this Jesse Jackson chronology
for their study, The Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson.
Bibliographical Ready for some of Jackson's work in etext? Here's a link
with a listing of his most recent commentaries on a wide variety of
subjects. In the mood for a speech? Here's one
Jackson gave in 1996 before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
You'll also find a photo and related links there.
Cultural This is the homepage
of the Rainbow/Push Coalition, an organization Jackson has had a close
relationship with for years. Here's a letter
from the executive director of the Physicians for Human Rights sent
to Jackson, expressing his concerns about civil rights abuses in Sierra
Leone. Take a look at this editorial cartoon
about Jackson from The Atlantic. The title of the page is "The
Irrepressible Jesse Jackson." Now that you know more about the
man, is this a fair portrayal?
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