CNN’s Mike Rowe took to his website over the weekend to rip MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry for what he deemed a ridiculous criticism she heaved at a guest who used the phrase “hard worker.”
Harris-Perry admonished a guest who referred to new Speaker of the House Paul Ryan as a “hard worker,” quibbling that it can be too easily equated with slavery.
“There is no longer a limit to what people can be offended by,” Rowe wrote in response to a fan’s question.
Harris-Perry had told her guest, “I want us to be super careful when we use the language ‘hard worker.’ Because I actually keep an image of folks working in cotton fields on my office wall, because it is a reminder about what hard work looks like.”
Rowe continued to take Harris-Perry to task by arguing that her invoking slavery in reference to “hard worker” is like hanging images of rape and bondage to “better illustrate the true nature of human sexuality.”
“Slavery is not “hard work;” it’s forced labor,” Rowe wrote, adding that slaves weren’t workers, but by definition property.
“They have no freedom, no hope, and no rights. Yes, they work hard, obviously. But there can be no ‘work ethic’ among slaves, because the slave has no choice in the matter.”
The “Somebody’s Gotta Do It” host boiled down his argument to a plumber’s job security compared to that of a TV news anchor.
“It’s also a nice reminder that a good plumber these days has a hell of a lot more job security than the average news anchor. (With respect.)”