Cesar Chavez
In the early 1960s, many minority groups rebelled against conservative America. One of these organizations was the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), a group of migrant farm workers that sought contracts with their employers that would include higher wages and more favorable working conditions. Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-American migrant farm worker and leader of the NFWA, followed the path of Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the two people most influential on his life, and emphasized the use of nonviolence throughout the movement. Chavez's protests and boycotts, including the famous Delano grape strike, gained national attention and affected American consumers everyday lives by attempting to persuade them not to buy certain products at local markets. By successfully leading a series of nonviolent boycotts and strikes that resulted in higher pay and better working conditions, Cesar Chavez emerged as the leader of the Mexican-American Working Rights Movement. Early in his childhood, it seemed as though Chavez would live the difficult life of searching for job opportunities as a migrant farm worker. He was born on March 31, 1927 on a farm near Yuma, Arizona. The Chavez family was struck extremely ha
After his family had a brief stay at Cesar's grandfather's house, Cesar's father took them to California in search of work. This victory over the Teamsters provided the UFWOC with hope for continued progress. Chavez recalled, "I was spiritually prepared for my jail sentence, and I [was] prepared to pay the price for civil disobedience" (Young 180). Chavez responded with a twenty-four day fast which nearly killed him. After returning home, Chavez was exposed to even more discrimination when he was ordered to sit in the section of a movie theater reserved for Mexicans, blacks, and Filipinos. Suffering extreme economic losses, the grape growers finally negotiated and settled with the union after a five-year strike. Schenley agreed to recognize the union, award a thirty-five cents raise per hour, and set up contributions to the NFWA credit union. He refused to leave the white section and was taken to jail; however, they released him shortly after because the police could not charge him with anything. While ecstatic about their huge victory, the NFWA's celebration was short lived as a rival union was interfering with their plans. With the support of Kennedy, the state legislature passed a law guaranteeing companies like Schenley, the main target of the boycott, a minimum price for grapes, but it did nothing to guarantee farm workers a decent wage. He became a member of the Community Service Organization (CSO), the most powerful Mexican-American political organization in California, and he attended many lectures by members that attempted to organize labor unions but had failed. After gathering supporters from both within the CSO and farmers not associated with it, Cesar Chavez broke away from the Community Service Organization and founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which would have more success than anyone could have predicted. Some workers [wore] face masks; others, handkerchiefs knotted around their heads to catch the sweat" (Rodriguez 57).
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