Gil Scott-Heron’s iconic song “Whitey on the Moon” is still relevant today, as Jeff Bezos spends $1 billion yearly on his spacecraft – but can’t seem to find the money to pay his millions of employees better.
Bezos has a net worth of over $200 billion. Still, he severely underpays his employees, cut COVID pay bumps after only three months, and abruptly canceled health benefits for 1,900 workers.
Seems like he was planning something special with the money he saved: he became the next “Whitey on the Moon!”
Despite promises to solve workplace racism, Bezos has also failed his Black employees. Over 30% of the lowest paid Amazon workers are Black.
In his song, Heron reminds listeners that low wages and poor healthcare Black people experience is what makes it possible for “whitey” to play around in space.
Poverty and discrimination cause poor Black people to live gravely different lives than billionaires like Bezos.
The “rat” that is biting us is capitalism, greed, and exploitation of Black people. “Was all that money I made last year,” asks Heron, “for whitey on the moon?”
We must remember that billionaires can only become so rich by exploiting the poor and vulnerable. Instead of flying to space, couldn’t Bezos use some of his billions to pay his employees a living wage?