Beto Hoyos
Eng 306
Research paper
stuff
Historical context
The 1960s brought plenty of change to the nation and attention where it might
have not been before. What Cesar Chavez and NFWA were doing with the Delano
grape strike was a prime example of the change the country was experiencing. In
1965 alone, the year the grape strike began, the country saw uprisings, riots
and the continuation of the war in Vietnam.
The Chavez family established a home and farm in Yuma, Arizona where Chavez was
born in 1927. Five years later, the great depression ushered in a period of
hardship for the family and the Chavez’s would be forced to travel with the
seasons (National park service). The family would live in various parts of
California including San Jose, Oxnard and Delano where the fruits were abundant
and work was always available.
Chavez quickly found out that racism was more abrasive in California than in
Arizona, but the family didn’t accept the harsh reality of their situation
(National park service). All that cruel treatment did not change the Chavez
family’s militant ways. They always stood up for what they believed was right
and early on they would walk off the fields if they felt there was unfair
treatment (national park service). It was those actions that molded the young
man to be a leader and to stand for what he believed in.
After joining the then segregated U.S Navy for two years in 1946, Chavez
returned to Califonia and married Helen Fabela in 1948 and the two settled in
Delano. Throughout much of the 1950s, Chavez worked as a community organizer
and later as a labor organizer for the Community Service Organization. In 1952
Chavez helped his old friend Fred Ross bring the CSO Los Angeles chapter to San
Jose and Chavez would hold different positions within the organization (Levy).
In 1960 Chavez would become executive director of the CSO and hoped to organize
farm workers but the rest of the CSO members were reluctant to shift from their
urban and civic focuses (national park service). Chavez was dedicated to his
cause and in 1962 he resigned his position and moved his family to Delano, California. That same year, Chavez would
start the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm
Workers of America.
Chavez and his organizers worked
tirelessly to ensure that workers would know that someone was out there
fighting for them and giving the voiceless farm workers a voice. In 1966 Chavez
organized a 340-mile march from Delano to Sacramento where they would plea with
state officials to pass laws which would allow farm workers to form into unions
and allow for fair collective bargaining agreements. By 1970 Chavez and the UFW
got grape growers to accept union contracts and had organized most of the grape
industry (nfw.org).
That was the
beginning of La Causa, a cause which was supported by religious groups,
minorities, students and organized laborers.
Rhetorical
context
As early as 1884 farm workers began
organizing against poor working conditions when Chinese workers in Kern county,
California went on strike for higher wages. This continued on and off for
decades with no real success. In 1903 there were 800 Japanese and Mexican beet
field workers who united to form the Japanese-Mexican labor association
(national park service).
Most of the 20th century
the laborers in the fields were mostly foreigners with the exception of some
white farmers left from the depression era of the 20s and 30s (Bruns). Having a
sudden influx of foreign born workers to hire allowed farm owners to keep wages
low and to almost spend nothing on medical care or improving working
conditions. The biggest misconception by the government and local citizens of
the time was that those kind of conditions were acceptable and expected for
non-whites and immigrants (Bruns).
Fast forward to 1965 when a group of
Filipino-American grape workers, who were members of the Agricultural Workers
Organizing Committee walked out after protesting for years against poor pay and
poor working conditions. The AWOC asked Cesar Chavez and his infantile organization
to join their cause. Chavez agreed to join the group because of two reasons,
Chavez knew that growers would try to pit different races against each other in
order to stop any kind of unity or stop the forming of walkouts. Chavez also he
felt that it was important for his new organization to join a cause that would
improve the lives of others (ufw.org). It was the AWOK which began the Delano
grape strike but it was Chavez who gave it fuel to continue.
Chavez knew that this groups
greatest weapon was their ability to not quit. Chavez knew that by taking such
a position he was putting at risk everything including his financial security,
and so were his supporters (ufw.org). Also Chavez wanted his protestors to
remain nonviolent and asked his supporters to take a vow of nonviolence as well
(Orosco). Chavez was following the traditions and following the path set by his
hero Mahatma Gandi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (ufw.org). A few years after
the strike had begun some young men within the organization started to lose
hope and felt as if victory was no where in sight. Some of the men talked about
becoming more violent and striking back at the farmers who had abused them.
Chavez felt that being nonviolent allowed you to always be on the offensive and
forced you to be more creative with your protests (Alarcon).
When it came to the boycotting of
wine and table grapes from the Delano area Chavez was the first to to do so and
never teetered back and forth on his decision. He joined the fight along side
his Filipino brothers and sisters who were experiencing similar hardships but
he also wanted his people, the Mexican immigrants who travel with the seasons
and go where the work is, to have just as fair and just as good conditions.
Chavez supported Mexican immigrants right to stay in the U.S after doing so
much labor but he actually opposed open borders (Orosco). During the Delano grape strike Chavez
lobbied the federal government to increase its efforts when it came to patrolling
the border. He wanted to decrease the number of undocumented immigrants coming
in and being used as strikebreakers on the fields (Orosco). Chavez felt that
all immigrants but especially Mexican immigrants can have a positive impact on
the country because of different cultural contributions and also felt that
Hispanic values can create the foundation for a more peaceful nation (Orosco). Chavez
was a kind man with a kind soul but he did not let race primarily dictate the
direction his work would take. He was concerned about all people getting fair
treatment regardless of where you come from. His crusade was more about
receiving fair treatment and improved working conditions and better pay than a
crusade to end racism within the agricultural industry (Orosco).
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