Erasing Race

Authors

Llezlie Green, American University Washington College of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

Journal

SMU Law Review Forum

Volume

73

Abstract

Low-wage workers frequently experience exploitation, including wage theft, at the intersection of their racial identities and their economic vulnerabilities. Scholars, however, rarely consider the role of wage and hwur exploitation in broader racial subordination frameworks. This Essay considers the narratives that have informed the detachment of racial justice from the worker exploitation narrative and the distancing of economic justice from the civil rights narrative. It then contends that social movements, like the Fight for $15, can disrupt narrow understandings of low-wage worker exploitation and proffer more nuanced narratives that connect race, economic justice, and civil rights to a broader antisubordination campaign that can more effectively protect the most vulnerable workers.

Recommended Citation

Llezlie Green, Erasing Race, 73 SMU Law Review Forum (2020).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/facsch_lawrev/1176