Image courtesy of NYup.com
In Saratoga, and across imperial nations, aesthetics of inclusion often mask the continued exploitation of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
In many ways, Saratoga Springs reminds me of where I grew up, the area in and around Portland, Maine. You’ll see big houses with Priuses in the driveway, coffee shops displaying “REFUGEES ARE WELCOME HERE” signs and a consistently Democratic voting record since at least the 1990s. Young people hit the town in quirky, thrifted outfits, going to the farmer’s market is an essential part of any Saturday morning, and smiling faces, bicycles, and rescue dogs populate the streets. In a word, Saratoga is a liberal city. It sells itself as such: a pristine, manicured liberal vacation paradise with all of the big city cultural amenities amidst the much more conservative upstate area.
The draw of Saratoga has long been its horse racing track. The longest continually operating thoroughbred race track in the country, the Saratoga Race Course is a mecca for wealthy white patrons in ornate hats who significantly contribute to the city’s summer economic activity. Saratoga’s population nearly triples during a typical summer, with visitors looking specifically to engage with the local horse culture and idyllic Main Street aesthetic. Horse racing has historically been tied to the antebellum South and holds a long and often obscured racial history. The apparent class element of the sport and ties to generational wealth create an inherent connection to race, but there are many more explicit connections to racing’s anti-Black past. Early thoroughbred racing often used the labor of enslaved Black people to serve as jockeys in races until the practice became banned during the Reconstruction era when free Black jockeys were able to gain upward mobility through the sport. [1] From the proliferation of lawn jockeys to the sport’s obsession with blood purity and pedigree in its horses, many of the underlying values of horse racing align with those of white supremacy. [2]
You don’t see most of the workers that make the race track function. They’re known as “backstretch” laborers, who work at the farthest point from the grandstand where visitors observe the races. During a typical season, the track employs roughly 1,100 backstretch workers. Almost all of these laborers are migrant workers from South or Central America, and even those who do have visas typically only hold seasonal work visas. [3] The work of backstretch track workers is equally vital and grueling– they are responsible for almost all care and upkeep of the horses at the track, and their days often begin as early as at 4 am. Almost all care deeply for their work and form personal connections with the horses they care for. While these workers are essential to maintaining the track’s existence, most make at or below minimum wage doing intense physical labor in the hot summer sun, where temperatures in Saratoga can hit over 100 degrees Fahrenheit with particularly intense humidity. An article from the Post Star, a Glens Falls-based newspaper, reported that:
In 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor investigated backstretch worker complaints about pay and hours at the Saratoga track. The Labor Department computed that hot walkers [in Saratoga] were underpaid by an average of $71.65 each week and grooms by $82.31. [4]
From June to the end of August, total lost wages would average over $1,000 per worker or over $1,103,410 across the entirety of the backstretch staff. Even documented migrant laborers live in fear of deportation: “You get scared that, even if you have all your papers, if you get a little drunk, or have a fight, they’ll arrest you and kick you out of the country.” [5] The use of undocumented migrant labor isn’t unique to the race course, either. In 2017, ICE arrested over two dozen back-of-house restaurant workers. In the Washington Post article detailing the event, most news coverage focused on the difficulties it caused restaurant owners and patrons rather than the workers and their families.[6]
The point of this labor is to be unseen. Both the titles of backstretch and back-of-house restaurant work imply physical distance from the core wealthy, white population of Saratoga; and having spent two summers in Saratoga myself, I can attest to the fact that these workers are hidden away from the well-manicured streets of Broadway, Beekman, and Union Avenue. The workers are well aware of this disparity: Saratoga resident, backstretch worker, and immigrant from Mexico Rodrigo Olivares noted, “You have horses sell for $1 million and here in the backside people live worse than pigs.” [7] An Albany-based immigration lawyer said to the New York Times, “It’s two different worlds. The backstretch is almost like a third-world country and you have the wealth on the other side.” [8]
Despite the intentional veiling of class and race-based issues in Saratoga, certain community activists and leaders continue to attempt to lift the veil that allows Saratoga to maintain its image as a picturesque city. Local activism was particularly robust in the summer of 2020, with Capital Region-based group All Of Us continually bringing attention to systemic issues in Saratoga. At the forefront of the movement was the death of Darryl Mount Jr. following an encounter with the Saratoga Springs Police Department in 2013. The incident continues to go under-examined, despite the acknowledgment of police incompetence during the investigation. Police Chief Gregory Veitch “admitted in a court deposition that he deceived the media at the time when he said an internal investigation found no police misconduct.” [9]
I spent that same summer in Saratoga between working as a busboy at the Adelphi, a four-star hotel on Broadway, and attending many rallies and protests demanding justice and further inquisition. Despite the attempts from local activists to educate Saratoga and call for accountability, the city and particularly Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton, were far more concerned with the optics of the protests. Repeatedly citing disruptions to tourists and diners at restaurants on Broadway, it seemed as though preserving the economic image of Saratoga as a picture-perfect getaway for those from New York City and Greenwichites was more important to the city government than any type of justice or reform.
I would argue that Saratoga is a liberal city. But that’s not a good thing. Liberal capitalism is a fundamentally aesthetic movement. It is based on allowing groups from dominant and historically oppressive populations to assuage their guilt by believing their personal acceptance of “diversity” makes up for the economic and physical exploitation of the global working class.
I am reminded of Emma Watson’s 2014 campaign, “This Is What A Feminist Looks Like,” which was quickly embraced by liberal women in the West. Investigative journalism (and a general understanding of the global textile economy) soon revealed that the apparel with the movement’s slogan on it was being manufactured by women in Mauritius, making less than 62p per hour in a practice that can only be described as modern-day enslavement. [10] Those shirts then sold for over $50 each. These micro examples can be found all across American liberal culture, from Whole Foods being owned by Amazon to Ben and Jerry’s continuing to sell their products in illegal Israeli settlement grocery stores within occupied Palestine. [11] The myth of liberalism echoes “The Ones Who Walk Away From The Omelas,” a short story by speculative fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin where a utopian society can only exist on the condition of the suffering of one specific child who is forced to live in perpetual squalor and abuse. Once citizens learn about the reality of their society, their initial horror usually turns to passive acquiescence to maintain their comfortable lifestyle.
The intentional and systemic mistreatment of migrant labor has been referred to as “the worst kept secret” in Saratoga [12] and the issue has been covered by the Washington Post, New York Times, Times Union, Newsweek, and NY Daily News. The racetrack continues to be celebrated as the life of Saratoga in the summers, and the horse trainers who employ migrant laborers go largely uncriticized. It’s important to note that these labor violations don’t exist outside of the political climate of Saratoga, but rather, the political climate necessitates economic exploitation. Someone needs to shovel horse droppings, someone needs to carry forty-pound feed bags in the summer heat, and someone needs to spend hours washing dishes with near-boiling water for Saratoga to continue existing as it is. The city and its residents have decided that it is worth these workers’ lives and bodies to ensure that tourists continue to visit.
Liberal capitalism cannot exist without the continued exploitation of the Global South and its workers. [13] The Scandanavian countries seen as democratic socialist paradises are particularly egregious offenders. In the 2011 invasion of Libya organized by NATO (and with heavy involvement from Barack Obama), the Norweigan military dropped 588 bombs on the country. [14] Fast fashion giant H&M is owned and based out of Sweden but outsources almost all manufacturing to Bangladesh in sweatshop conditions. [15] Additionally, Nordic countries have some of the highest carbon emissions rates globally, once again causing disastrous effects, specifically in South Asian island countries. [16] Agriculture, clothing manufacturing, coffee and chocolate production, and mining for rare earth minerals have all historically been tied to child labor and enslavement. Tesla, who projects an image of a clean-energy future to its markets in the West, was the subject of a 2019 lawsuit surrounding the death of child miners in Cobalt mines in the Congo. [17]
There is no “reforming” capitalism. The furthest left capitalist is still a capitalist. Profit cannot exist without the theft of the surplus-value of the laborer, and the conditions of capitalism are perpetually forced onto the Global South, whether in Burundian mineral mines, Bangladeshi textile mills, or Colombian coffee plantations. Forces of Western imperialism like NATO and the United Nations continue to create political instability through exploitation in order to control the resources and people of so-called “developing nations” to restrict the self-determination of their people. In the words of American political scientist Michael Parenti, “The third world is not poor. Most countries are rich. The Philippines are rich. Brazil is rich. Mexico is rich. Chile is rich. Only the people are poor. These countries are not underdeveloped. They’re overexploited!” [18] It is the duty of those of us in so-called Western nations to demand liberation, not representation or inclusion within a system designed to exploit, for people across the globe.
Martin, Micheal, “The Forgotten History Of African-American Jockeys”, NPR. 2016. https://www.npr.org/2016/05/07/477175260/the-forgotten-history-of-african-american-jockeys
Though it’s mildly tangential, I think it’s interesting to note that the Skidmore mascot itself is a blonde haired, blue eyed “purebred” race horse.
Ockerman, Emma, “After ICE arrests in Saratoga Springs, some migrant workers fear showing up for racing season”, The Washington Post. 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/after-ice-arrests-in-saratoga-springs-some-migrant-workers-fear-showing-up-for-racing-season/2017/08/25/a0cb3a9a-7c45-11e7-a669-b400c5c7e1cc_story.html
Phalen-Tomaselli, Kathleen. “Backstretch workers are track's backbone”, The Post Star, 2017. https://poststar.com/news/local/part-3-backstretch-workers-are-tracks-backbone/article_31447b99-082a-5ec6-8e95-dca2141c7cf9.html
Kilgannon, Corey. “Far from Winner’s Circle, Saratoga Track Workers Fear Deportation”, New York Times, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/nyregion/far-from-winners-circle-saratoga-track-workers-fear-deportation.html
Ockerman, “ICE Arrests in Saratoga Springs”.
Kilgannon, “Far from the Winner’s Circle”.
Kilgannon, “Far from the Winner’s Circle”.
Shields, Brian. “Report Finds Saratoga Springs Police Misconduct Investigation Wasn't Completed”, WAMC, 2018. https://www.wamc.org/post/report-finds-saratoga-springs-police-misconduct-investigation-wasnt-completed
Goldberg, Eleanor. “‘Feminist’ T-Shirt Backed By Women’s Group Made In Sweatshop: Report”, Huffpost, 2014. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/feminist-t-shirt-sweatshop_n_6094722
Essa, Azad. “Ben & Jerry's freezes when it comes to Palestine”, Middle East Eye, 2020. “https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/progressive-ice-cream-ben-jerry-freezes-when-it-comes-palestine”
Ockerman, “ICE Arrests in Saratoga Springs”.
The Global South is a term used to describe nations that are victims of colonialism and imperialism and thus average far lower personal and household incomes than “Western” countries and typically have less industrial infrastructure. Most of these countries lie in South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.
Anrig, Christian F. “The Belgian, Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian Experiences.” Precision and Purpose: Airpower in the Libyan Civil War, RAND Corporation, 2015, pp. 267–308. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt16f8d7x.16
Cruz, Carlos. “Scandinavia's Covert Role in Western Imperialism,” teleSUR, 2017. https://www.telesurenglish.net/analysis/Scandinavias-Covert-Role-in-Western-Imperialism-20170320-0022.html
Cruz, “Scandinavia's Covert Role in Western Imperialism.”
Kelly, Annie. “Apple and Google named in US lawsuit over Congolese child cobalt mining deaths,” The Guardian, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/dec/16/apple-and-google-named-in-us-lawsuit-over-congolese-child-cobalt-mining-deaths
Parenti, Micheal. “Imperialism 101”, Against Empire. 1995. Accessed via http://www.michaelparenti.org/Imperialism101.html.