Explorations In Leadership
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MariaArmenta.pptx
César Chávez: the movement towards farm worker rights
Maria Armenta
ITGS 400
Background
“César Estrada Chávez, was born on March 31, 1927, near Yuma, Arizona” (César Chávez Foundation, 2019).
César Chávez advocated and practiced nonviolent approaches to shed a light on the injustices that were happening to farmworkers.
“In 1962, he founded the National Farm Workers Association, which is now known as the United Farm Workers” (César Chávez Foundation, 2019).
Rationale
César Chávez continues to be an inspiration to many, but despite having done so much for farmworkers, there is still things that need to be done to help them especially when they are struggling to feed their families based on their income.
Thesis statement
César Chávez played a very significant role in fighting for farmworkers rights, he made sure that throughout the fight they used nonviolent approaches to gain public support and awareness for the rights they needed.
aim
The aim this review of literature is to give perspective of the struggles that the farmworkers had to endure and how César Chávez with nonviolent approaches came in to help these farmworkers.
Main points
The main points discussed in this literature review are:
The Initiation
The National Farm Workers Association
The Delano Grape Strike
The Fast
The Initiation
Chávez’s involvement and influence in helping farmworkers started when he was younger.
According to León (2007) “In 1937, the Bruce Church Corporation engineered a foreclosure of the ranch so the property would be available for acquisition” (p.859).
The Chávez family, owned a business that in the long run failed and it was costing the ranch a lot of money, so they had to move out.
“In spite of the family's relentless efforts to keep their property, the cards were stacked in favor of Bruce Church, who needed the land to straighten out his property line” (León, 2007, p.859).
No matter the effort and the hard work his parents were doing to stay in the ranch was enough, and despite not wanting to leave they had to and that made an impact in his life.
The Initiation
León (2007) states the following:
As stated by Chávez: "Maybe that is when the rebellion started. Some had been born into the migrant stream. But we had been born on the land, and I knew a different way of life. We were poor, but we had liberty. The migrant is poor, and he has no freedom” (p.860).
“César left school at age fifteen, when he graduated from the eighth grade in1942, he had decided it was best for him to help his family by working in the fields as a full-time employee” (p.861)
The author adds that he left school and worked in the fields full-time to help alleviate some of the stress his mother had.
The Initiation
In 1946, Chávez joined the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific.
According to León (2007) “It was during Chávez's military service that an incident occurred at a local theater that would further impress upon him the urgency of working for democratic morality; this has been called his "Rosa Parks" moment” (p.861).
He sat on the wrong side of the movie theater, which lead to him getting kicked out.
In a way he decided to test these racial laws, by protesting them.
The Initiation
Many groups before Chávez in the 50s and 60s, had the same vision and ideology to help farmworkers obtain their rights.
AWOC – Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee
CSO – Community Service Organization
“Fred Ross, was a successful social activist and became a co-founder of a Latino civil rights group called the Community Service Organization (CSO)” (Hunter, 2012, p.461).
He helped establish a CSO in San Jose to which he later became vice president to., then the national director.
The national farm workers association
Rodriguez (2017) states that “When he first talked about forming a union, Chávez realized what was really holding him back was financial security” (p.16).
He did not know how he was going to start the union because he was struggling to find ways to pay those who would be his workers, which is led him to work for Community Service Organization (CSO).
After working there for a while, he decided not to let job security keep him there and keep him from creating his union.
The national farm workers association
César Chávez resigns from CSO in 1962, at the 9th Annual CSO convention, after his resignation he began thinking about creating his union.
“César Estrada Chávez co-founded the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) in 1962, he inspired the Chicano political movement and largely occasioned its attendant cultural renaissance” (León, 2007,p.857).
Other co-founders: Dolores Huerta
He was inspired by the leaders he read in books, and about the kind of things that they were saying but also because many of them dealt with a similar situation, in which he was trying to fight.
The national farm workers association
According to León (2007), Chávez stated that “Nonviolent sacrificial struggle was the heart of the movement; it was linked with religious symbols to increase its rhetorical appeal” (p.872).
César Chávez was a very religious man and believed in many religious symbols.
Believed in Catholicism and was a faithful Catholic
Virgin of Guadalupe (Virgen de Guadalupe)
“Our Lady of Guadalupe (which Chavez promoted), the farm workers' flag (which became the symbol of the eternal campesino), and the atmosphere of a struggle for justice and dignity (which Chavez espoused)” (Garcia , 1994, p.228).
The national farm workers association
“He has come to exemplify certain commitments and ideals, such as fighting against injustice, poverty, and exploitation; dedication to nonviolence, love, and the dignity of all; and reconciliation brought about through suffering and sacrifice” (Maya, 2019, p. 602).
He was very passionate about creating justice for those who were being wronged.
He looked up to activists and leaders like:
Mahatma Gandhi
Martin Luther King Jr.
The national farm workers association
Viva la Causa (Long Live the Cause) became the new motto for the group in 1962.
Also, the flag with red and white background with the eagle was also adopted.
The Delano grape strike
According to Kim (2017), “On September 8, 1965, the AWOC and Filipino grape workers walked out on a strike against the Delano-area table and grape and wine grape growers because the workers were protesting poor pay and conditions”.
The union that César was creating wanted him to participate in this strike that the AWOC was having and so he decided to join.
Although it was not an activity that was created by him or his union, he still advocated for them and asked them to remain solemn and nonviolent throughout it.
The Delano grape strike
The strike drew support from outside the Central Valley, from:
Other unions
Church activists
Students
Latinos and other minorities, and civil rights groups.
“César led a 300-mile march, or what he called a peregrination “Peregrinación” from Delano to Sacramento” (Kim, 2017).
This peregrination made a very clear statement, it was something that they could not hide, because that how many people supported it.
The Delano grape strike
The Delano grape strike
“The strikers turned to boycotts, including table grapes, which eventually spread across North America” (Kim, 2017) .
César knew the strikers’ greatest weapon was simply their decision not to quit, to persevere no matter what the odds or how long it would take.
He knew that they could do everything to create change he just needed to help them stick together and continue.
The strikers had to be prepared to be at risk for many things:
e.g., Financial insecurity
Delano Grape Strike
The Delano grape strike
Many people were risking their employment, in order to have better working conditions, which was something that Chávez wanted because it showed their dedication to the movement and what it wanted to accomplish
Many people were no longer buying grapes so that they could give these farmworkers rights, especially better work conditions and better pay.
The fast
Kim (2017) states “The Delano Grape Strike was going on for quite while and people were starting to become impatient and many of them wanted to resort to violence” (Kim, 2017).
It was going on for about 2 ½ years
The vision that Chávez had for the strike did not include violence he did not support it.
He advocated stood his ground especially when someone wanted to choose violence over nonviolence.
The fast
Some people who were striking did not think that Chávez’s idea of nonviolence was helping the cause , instead they claimed that the nonviolence was making them look like cowards.
According to Kim, the strikers stated that “By fighting back, they could prove their machismo, their manliness” (2017).
For some of the strikers they believe that violence meant business, that it meant they were willing to go and fight anyone who did not give them what they believed belonged to them.
The fast
Rodriguez (2011) states that “He insisted farm workers strictly adhere to a pledge of nonviolence, and he fasted for twenty-five days in 1968 to rededicate the movement to that principle” (p.17).
He fasted for the time needed to get the people back into line with what was the principle and moral of the group.
During the fast he only drank water for 25 days.
No food
His life was in danger, but he was willing to take that risk.
The fast
Chávez studied the sacrifice that Gandhi made to his followers and the movement so that he can get them back into thinking logically about nonviolence and not violence.
“Chávez is best understood as a complex thinker and ecumenical believer, whose political work was deeply influenced by Gandhi, based in the spirituality and philosophy of nonviolent sacrificial struggle for social justice” ( León, 2007, p.869).
He knew that if they gave in to the violence, they would only create a bigger problem, which is why he tried to stay away from it as much as he could.
The fast
“But for César, nonviolence was more than a tactic or strategy that could be discarded if it wasn’t working” (Kim, 2017).
Nonviolence to Chávez was something and the key or main thing that his fight was centered on, it was not something that he could discard.
“He assumes responsibility for the violence perpetrated by union members and attempts to set an example of nonviolence by sacrificing his body” (Maya, 2019, p.604).
He was willing to risk his own life and body for change but in a positive way, because it was something that Gandhi would do.
The fast
Conclusion
César Chávez advocated for equal rights and better working conditions for farmworkers all over America who were being exploited for their work.
He became involved in the CSO, which helped him gain more knowledge on social activism, and what he could do to help.
He co-founded the Latino Civil rights group in CSO
Created the UFW to help many people by using tactics from other powerful leaders to help create change for many farmworkers.
Conclusion
Participated in the Delano Grape Strike with AWOC and Filipino activist group.
“Chávez and the farmworkers commenced a three-hundred-mile trek from Delano to Sacramento on 17 March 1966” (Holmes, 2010, p.61).
Protested bad work conditions and low pay
Inspired by Gandhi’s sacrifice, he decided to fast for 25 days to protest the violence that was taking place, until they decided not be violent but also his dedication to the movement.
There are many ways that we can include these tactics and ideas that inspired Chávez to not resort to violence and some of these tactics are being used today.
Peaceful protests
Not initiating violence
Conclusion
Another activist in the same area that of César Chávez:
Dolores Huerta, who happens to be a co-founder to the UFW
She founded Agricultural Workers Association (AWA)
She was working in a similar area of activism and similar view that César Chávez had.
Believed in nonviolence to create positive change.
“Non-violence is a very powerful weapon. Most people don’t understand the power of non-violence and tend to be amazed by the whole idea. Those who have been involved in bringing about change and see the difference between violence and non-violence are firmly committed to a lifetime of non-violence, not because it is easy or because it is cowardly, but because it is an effective and very powerful way.”
-César Chávez, UFW
references
Cesar Chávez Foundation. (n.d.). About César Chávez – Cesar Chávez Foundation. https://chavezfoundation.org/about-cesar-chavez/
Garcia, R. A. (1994). César Chávez: A personal and historical testimony. Pacific Historical Review, 63(2), 225.
Hunter, M. (2012). César Chávez and the United Farm Workers Movement. History Teacher, 45(3), 461–462.
Holmes, T. (2010). The economic roots of Reaganism: Corporate conservatives, political economy, and the United Farm Workers Movement, 1965–1970. The Western Historical Quarterly, 41(1), 55–80.
references
Kim, I. (2017, March 8). The 1965–1970 Delano Grape Strike and Boycott. UFW. https://ufw.org/1965-1970-delano-grape-strike-boycott/
León, L. D. (2007). César Chávez in American religious politics: Mapping the new global spiritual line. American Quarterly, 59(3), 857–881. https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2007.0060
Maya, G. (2019). César Chávez and the ethics of exemplarity. Journal of Religious Ethics, 47(3), 601–625.
Rodriguez, A. S. (2011). Why César Chávez led a movement as well as a union. Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, 23, 15–21.
UFW. (n.d.). Education of the heart: César Chávez in his own words. UFW. https://ufw.org/research/history/education-heart-cesar-chavez-words/#:%7E:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20non%2Dviolent%20technique%20does,you%20are%20living%20for%20people.%E2%80%9D
