Sharon Kennedy: Time to shop Christmas craft shows
If you haven’t attended Christmas craft shows in your area, you don’t know what you’re missing. Crafters and vendors offer a vast array of gifts for your friends and every member of your family. Prices are reasonable and even low when compared to the amount of time and materials involved in making one-of-a-kind gifts. It amazes me that folks rarely think twice about handing their money to a sales clerk at well-known chain stores, but often balk at giving $20 to a local artist.
You have no idea who made that winter scarf wrapped around your neck. Was it a woman in a Vietnamese factory or a criminal in a Chinese prison? Actually, we don’t have to travel a great distance to discover who makes most of the stuff we buy because U.S. prisoners make a whole lot more than just license plates. For instance, that tasty bacon you’re enjoying this morning might have come from a pig killed by an inmate in a Texas prison slaughterhouse.
According to the former publication, “Left Business Observer” (LOB), it isn’t just food that comes from incarcerated individuals. It’s a whole lot more that might surprise you especially when it comes to military items. Assuming this isn’t “fake news,” OBO reported, “The federal prison industry produces 100 percent of all military helmets, war supplies and other equipment. Prisoners supply 98 percent of the entire market for equipment assembly services, 93 percent of paints and paintbrushes, 92 percent of stove assembly, 46 percent of body armor and 36 percent of home appliances. Inmates are involved in making airplane parts, medical supplies and raising seeing-eye dogs for the blind.”
This is just the tip of an iceberg well hidden from the public unless we’re willing to do a little non-academic research. Southeast Asian countries aren’t the only ones that use prisoners as forced laborers for billion-dollar companies. The inmate industry is alive and flourishing right here in the USA. Now, don’t get me wrong. Using incarcerated people for prison work like keeping the grounds clean, mopping floors, washing windows, cooking meals and many other jobs makes sense, but using them as forced labor for billion-dollar corporations is disgusting.
What irritates me is the profit major companies make from free labor or minimal wages paid to the workers. McDonald’s and Wendy’s sell beef patties processed by prisoners. Walmart depends upon inmates to “clean” products of UPC bar codes so the products can be resold. In Washington state, a Starbucks subcontractor uses prison labor to package holiday coffees. Verizon expects felons to man some of their call centers. Victoria’s Secret is no longer a secret once word leaked out that the company reportedly uses female inmates to replace tags saying “Made in” [a foreign country] with tags stating “Made in USA.” JCPenney sells jeans sewn by Tennessee prisoners. Many of these companies deny any truth to the allegations that they or their suppliers use forced labor.
Rahiem Shabazz, a journalist and filmmaker, reported that “Prison labor in the US is referred to as in-sourcing. Under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, employers receive a tax credit of $2,400 for every work-release inmate they employ. This is a reward for hiring ‘risky target groups’. The workers are cheap labor and easy to control. Companies avoid providing health insurance and don’t worry about unions, raises or family issues.”
So now that Christmas craft shows are in full swing, shop local and buy from those who take the time and effort to create something special for you and your loved ones. You’ll be pleased you did.
— To contact Sharon Kennedy, send her an email at sharonkennedy1947@gmail.com. Kennedy's new book, "View from the SideRoad: A Collection of Upper Peninsula Stories," is available from her or Amazon.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Sharon Kennedy: Time to shop Christmas craft shows
