Aditya Raman

“They's a lot of fellas wanta know what reds is.' He laughed. 'One of our boys from foun' out.' He patted the piled earth gently with his shovel. 'Fella named Hines--got 'bout thirty thousan' acres, peaches and grapes--got a cannery an' a winery. Well, he's all a time talkin' about 'them goddam reds'. 'Goddamn reds is drivin' the country to ruin,' he says, an' 'We got to drive these here red bastards out.'

Well, they were a young fella jus' come out west here, an' he's listenin' one day. He kinda scratched his head an' he says, 'Mr. Hines, I ain't been here long. What is those goddamn reds?'

Well sir, Hines says, 'A red is any son-of-a-bitch that wants thirty cents an hour when we're payin' twenty-five!"

Well, this young fella he thinks about her, an' he scratches his head, an' he says, 'Well, Jesus, Mr. Hines, I ain't a son-of-a-bitchm but if that's what a red is--why, I want thirty cents an hour.
Every'body does. Hell, Mr. Hines, we're all reds.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath