The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland
By: Dan Barry / Narrated By: Fred Sanders
Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
Read one review of this audiobook that TOTALLY shows WHY this happened for so long and continues to happen today…
I traipsed back over, elsewhere, to read my original review after listening to this, The Boys in the Bunkhouse, again. Whilst there, I read the review below mine and wanted to kick somebody because it shows exactly why the exploitation of the men occurred.
Intellectually disabled men from Texas were sent to live in a tiny town named Atalissa and for over 30 years they lived in deplorable conditions while they worked for room, board, and $65 a month eviscerating turkeys. They had only small items as personal and prized possessions, they socialized with only themselves (once the kibosh was put on them socializing with the townspeople), they were called names, kicked in their asses (literally), just generally mistreated and abused by their “caretakers”.
What was galling at the time of my initial listening was that red flags were raised by a brave man as early as 1974, but it wasn’t until DECADES later that things were looked into. Basically, each department in each agency passed the buck, not wishing to do anything, ruffle any feather, and they came down to what the reviewer (who cheesed me off so much!) said:
It’d be worse if these intellectually disabled men WEREN’T “gainfully employed” as they’d be homeless and thus, as beings deinstitutionalized, they would be at even greater risk of dehumanization.
… !!!
The reviewer says that it clearly got out of hand, but don’t hate the abusers cuz the concept is good. I agree that all challenged individuals with enough abilities could benefit from employment and the sense of honor and dignity it brings. The men in this book certainly took pride in being employed tho’ they worked so hard and at such physically grueling tasks that they all dreamed of the retirement home they were told was being built for them in Texas with the wages that were withheld.
But the whole point of the book was that THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN for them! Hate the hell outta these abusers, I say; go on and listen to this and tell me that those individuals weren’t inCREDibly guilty of exploiting the wazoo out of men who needed supervision, who needed care, who needed sensitivity!
The men lived in what should’ve been a condemned schoolhouse that was roach-infested (roaches swarming the place and falling from the ceiling so the men had to cover their food with their hands and eat reeeeally quickly); there was no privacy for them in the urine-befouled bathrooms; the place was an inferno waiting to happen and had locked doors hindering exits; it was cold; it was hot.
But I s’pose, to the reviewer and to the people in Social Services who looked then turned away, it was “shelter” and that was deemed better than having nothing. (Actually, that IS what was believed; it’s not just my supposition).
Fred Sanders is not my favorite narrator. I often feel like he skimps on emotion and feeling in his delivery, but his style works well here. Cuz see how worked up I’m getting? An emotion-driven narrator coulda amped up the delivery and sensationalized this, but Sanders doesn’t. He lets the words of Dan Barry and the actions of the people in the story speak for themselves. This coulda been all shock value, but instead it’s a very humane account of a horrific situation. So, bravo Mr. Sanders and well done!
All in all, be prepared for what to me was a jaw-dropping look at what we do to our fellow man.
And yes: I give you leave to hate the abusers…!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.