Revolution in Wage Equity

At first glance you may wonder why this is a good Cinco de Mayo post.  First, a reflection on the origins of the holiday itself.  It is a much bigger celebration in the United State than Mexico because it originated with Mexican American communities in the west as a way to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy at the beginning of the U.S. Civil War.  Today the date is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.   In the state of Puebla, Mexico the date is observed to commemorate the Mexican army's  victory over a bigger and better armed French force at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.  So it is a holiday with its roots in wars and equality.

In the battle over minimum wage, Hispanic workers as a group stand to gain most.  According to the Buereau of Labor Statistics, Latino workers, both men and women, have the highest percentage of workers who are earning salaries that are at or below minimum wage.  I really hope that as a result of the tremendous disparity in income that currently exists that we can have a wage revolution.  I know the plutocrats who are making $10,000 an hour believe they are worth that much money, that they are a thousand times more deserving than the person they employ to clean their house, but what about the rest of us?  Will we continue to tolerate income disparity?  I hope we have the kind of Progressive Revolution that swept the country at the beginning of the last century.