I don’t know about where you live, but in my neck of the woods if you want get various kinds of construction work done, you are likely to end up with a Latino. OUr schools have stopped woodworking shop, auto mechanics, and a number of other useful skills for employment, and then wonder why blacks have a much higher unemployment rate.
When I was in high school 70 years ago I took cooking, sewing and home nursing classes. Along with my college degree I have used all 3 skills. My late husband decided I might be good marriage material when on our first date I saw he had a button missing and insisted he let me sew it back on before he took me to dinner. Forty-five years later I was using my home nursing skills as he slowly died of Alzheimers.
How many Americans of either race are willing to do the kind of work so many Latinos/as are now doing at minimum wage or less?
“How many Americans of either race are willing to do the kind of work so many Latinos/as are now doing at minimum wage or less?”
I’ve been doing it for decades for nothing. I have always been of the mindset that if I can do it myself, I won’t need to hire someone else to do it. And I do pretty much everything except projects that require a crew and heavy equipment.
I worked construction before I got married in my 30s. I’m younger than you (I’m only in my 70s), but there are still some of us who not only CAN get our hands dirty and calloused, we ENJOY doing it. But, you’re right: These younger generations lack both the wherewithal and the desire to learn any of the trades, which is one of the reasons our society is collapsing.