story of a Philippino slave and her family

Really fascinating read of a woman who was glibly taken into slavery over 70 years ago in the Philippines. Which is quite common in most parts of the world, even still - if you have Asian, African, South American, etc close friends who were born into wealth its not shocking to hear stories of armies of servants, many of whom are born into servitude and can never escape.

This one is interesting though because the slave was brought to the US and lived and worked here for 56 years, to what we'd call a pretty common American family.
My Family’s Slave

Next time one of my daughters emails me about some stupid micro aggression shit that Trump triggered in her, I'll send this back to her and remind her that there are billions of people in the world who would gladly trade places with her in a heartbeat.

This article is also fascinating because the writer is a journalist for the Atlantic (and others) who died last month, this was the last story he did.

TJT said:

This is one of those things I just can't even pretend to defend. Yes, don't blow up your family because the impact of your slave being taken away would inconvenience you. And you'd look bad in the USA because having a slave is rather frowned upon.

That whole family can eat a dick. I don't care if its a cultural practice in the Philippines. So sorry our laws against slavery make life more difficult for you. Should have moved to Qatar. No sympathy whatsoever.

Click to expand...

I don't think its that simple. Say he went to the cops and said his parents own a slave. They are on a visa or immigration status. They would all get deported back to the Philippines and/or sent to jail and/or the Filipino government may take extensive action against their entire family for making them look bad. Parents would probably kick the kid onto the streets and disown him. I'm not sure what would happen to Lola, either stay in the USA (?) or also get deported? The list of shit that can go extremely bad for you, in a foreign country, is immense and scary.

Its easy for us to say "well fuck yeah I'd report their ass and get them jailed" but I honestly don't know if I would rat on a family member like that, knowing the consequences could be shattering to my entire family. That does get a bit Star Trek-ian, is absolutely ruining the life of one innocent person worth the various levels of discomfort 5-6 other people may endure? How does a 11 or 19 year old kid decide that? Are they even emotionally capable?

Bad shit happens all around the world all the time, and most of us are completely oblivious. For example, do you like shrimp? Most shrimp sold in the USA is processed by bonded labor in southeast asia.
Don’t eat that shrimp

I've known that for years. I still buy shrimp