San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro delivered a wonderful keynote at last night's DNC. Referred to by some as Democrats' answer to Marco Rubio, Castro shared his own family's history as immigrants and the struggles, hardhships, and sacrifices that entailed.
One of the more memorable lines from his speech was this:
My mother fought for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone.
Follow me below and I'll share a small quibble.
I understand why this line went over so well. I understand the belief system behind it and I don't disagree with that belief system...per se. For the most part this belief system is about wanting to see people do better, helping people meet their full potential. That's a good thing.
But it would be great if Dem pols, the President included, could take care, as First Lady Michelle Obama did in her speech, to point out that there should be every bit as much dignity in holding a mop as there is in holding a microphone. The man or woman who holds a mop, whether by choice or by circumstance, is entitled to respect and a living wage.
My aim isn't to poo poo all over Castro's excellent address. It was fantastic. He's a good man and we're lucky to have him on our team. But there are mop pushers and waitresses and other low level, unskilled workers who may never be more than unskilled workers and maybe becasue they just weren't intellectually gifted to be more than unskilled workers. That's not their fault and they don't deserve to be belittled whether intentionally or not. I just think we could be a tad more sensitive when it comes to our "bootstrap" pandering. That's all.