Many of the pieces in the Diversity in Racing series recently in TDN reflect on the fact that backstretch workers at American racetracks were once predominately black. Now they are overwhelmingly Latino. Not one of them reflects on why this happened. At the same time in TDN, we are presented with unending pleas for additional H2B visas needed for the racing industry.
Here is my suggestion–how about the racing industry make a concerted effort to hire and train black Americans who live near racetracks to work on the backstretch by providing them a decent, living wage? But this idea is anathemic to an industry that worships at the altar of labor costs as cheap as possible. The incongruity and hypocrisy of this situation is astounding.
Tim Peterson, Edina, MN
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