Democracy Now: Selma James on Unwaged Labor and Decades-Long Struggle to Pay Housewives

A debate over housework shook the presidential race last week after a Democratic strategist accused Mitt Romney's wife Ann of never having worked a day in her life. Ann responded: "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work." Today we bring a historic voice into this discussion: the longtime activist, writer and political thinker Selma James, known for her pioneering work on women's rights and against racism. She is credited with coining the phrase "unwaged" labor to describe the work of housewives — and she has argued women should be paid for housework. Selma James' new book is "Sex, Race, and Class — The Perspective of Winning: A Selection of Writings, 1952-2011." In a series of arguments that have remained remarkably consistent across six decades, Selma James urges unity across the lines of race, class and gender. I interviewed Selma James recently, and she spoke about the great West Indian scholar C.L.R. James, who was her husband, and the writing of her seminal 1952 essay, "A Woman's Place."

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