The Christmas season is fully upon us. People are scampering around into stores to find presents. Amazon boxes are piling up on doorsteps. It seems like a wonderful and beautiful thing; gift giving. People I subscribe to on YouTube have been showing off all the items they have bought for their children. There are videos with titles such as, “25 Great Gifts on Amazon You Can’t Pass Up!” In watching one of those videos, a woman only bought a few items for her children, most that were locally made or handcrafted, but then she said, “I bought this dollhouse from Temu. I know, Temu is kinda sketchy, but I’ve been wanting one like this for a while…” She was doing so well. I was proud of her. Then she made an excuse for why she bought from a place she knew to be sketchy. I sat there unable to hold back. I told her in a comment that “Temu is sketchy because they are known for their slave labor practices. Your dollhouse was made by a slave.” Will she glance over my comment? Maybe. Will it offend her? Probably. At least that means she will think about it. Will it even affect her? Maybe not. Will she go research Temu’s horrific practices? I don’t know. I hope she will. I hope it will cause her to want to find out facts and maybe make a change in how she spends her money in the future. Maybe she’ll reach out to the company and demand they fix their supply chain and care more for the people in it. There are so many moms and people out there who have this same mentality she had in her holiday shopping.
People want to shut off their brains from any knowledge they may have about companies and give into the urges of their longings to be fulfilled, even if it means that a slave made their items.
When I was a child, there was always this idea that slavery was bad. It was evil. It existed long ago. I learned how emancipation was granted during the Civil War and how beautiful this was. Teachers, classmates, parents, and pastors all talked about the harsh reality of how people were treated. I remember in the 1990s (when I was a teenager), T.V. icon Kathy Lee Gifford’s clothing company got in trouble for “sweatshop labor.” She was even giving the profits to charity, but slaves were producing the garments. It was the first time I had heard of a sweatshop. I despise this term because it doesn’t state what it really is: slavery. I didn’t understand. I knew a woman back then who didn’t buy anything made in China, but I didn’t put together any pieces in my brain what that meant. Were all things made in China bad? Why were they bad that she didn’t want to own things made there? It didn’t click. No one explained things to me. If I wasn’t being taught as a kid, were the adults that knew about it just brushing it aside? If so, why? Eventually, I shut it off in my head too.
Fast forward to 2007 when I learned about slavery being worse today than it was back then with actual examples being given to me and scenarios explained. It was like a switch turned on in my head. This is wrong. What can I do to stop this? As a new mom, I was in shock and felt the need to tell everyone about slavery existing. It seemed like only a few people cared. It didn’t make any sense logically in my head why no one trained me as a child about slave labor practices still existing. As a grown woman, what could I do to with the information I was learning? It hurt my heart so much and I felt like I was screaming with a glass container around me as I was hitting it. No one could hear me. Why did it seem like no one cared?
There are actual organizations and companies working to eradicate slavery forever (like our own). There still are not enough companies that zoom in on their supply chain or give living wages to their employees. The ones that do often get pushed aside because their prices might be higher or their items are not sold at Kohls (known for having slavery, including the Uyghur people toiling in the cotton fields, just like we all heard about happening on southern plantations pre-Civil War). The label of “Made in China” does not necessarily mean there was slave labor involved in its production, as there are factories located there that have fair and living wages, but not many. We need the factories where slavery is prevalent to eventually make intense changes to their practices. It will take time, but it is possible.
Why is it that whenever I confront people about possible slave labor issues in the items that they buy, I am the bad guy getting a side eye and looked at like I am crazy and horrible for exposing their favorite brand? What will stir people to actually care about what they are buying and who is making their items? Do they have to actually see the people in slavery to understand it exists? We live in an age of great information access. We have the ability to research and learn things more easily than in the 1990s when Kathy Lee Gifford was exposed. We should all be appalled about slavery still existing. Our money is funding slavery. Our money can stop funding it and make a huge difference in the lives of millions forced in the production of the items you are buying. Don’t know where to start? We have a great resources page to help you.
I will continue to be the “bad guy” until I see a huge difference in the world around me and when I see people decide to make their purchases with empathy towards those in slavery in the supply chain rather with selfish intent of fulfilling their desires.
Merry Christmas, everyone.