{"id":11080,"date":"2025-03-26T15:41:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T15:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/?p=11080"},"modified":"2025-03-26T15:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T15:41:08","slug":"cesar-chavez-one-of-the-greatest-civil-rights-leaders-of-our-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/26\/cesar-chavez-one-of-the-greatest-civil-rights-leaders-of-our-times\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez:\u00a0One of the Greatest Civil Rights Leaders of Our Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>(March 31, 1927- April 23, 1993)<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Linda Alvarado-Arce<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we take time today to celebrate C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s birthday with this special edition of La Prensa. I would like to remind everyone of how one person, through pacifist means, mobilized so many people around the nation and accomplished so much in a world that was and is still today so indifferent to our Brown brothers and sisters. Our Brown brothers and sisters who help plant the seeds of the crops we eat. Who pick the crops with their bare hands and under the hot sun for long hours and very little pay. Who sorts, packs, and or cans the foods we eat and that you find on the shelves of our favorite grocery stores? The same Brown faces that work in the poultry, pork, and beef farms, feeding, cleaning, and caring for the food that goes into our bodies every, single, day.<\/p>\n

Our essential service workers who without them, I am not sure who would do this work. And, if they were all deported, based on this constant threat of deportation, or if they self-deport themselves due to the horrific thought of the possibility of being detained, deported, and separated from their families because many live in mixed-status homes where some family members are documented, in the process of naturalization, and others undocumented, how much more our food would cost? The price of food and necessities is already outrageously high!<\/p>\n

So, ask yourself, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? Why is this happening to a group of people who have come (most legally) to the U.S. to survive, work, and educate themselves and their children and who provide so much for all of us? Especially when U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mexico\u2019s President Manuel Avila Camacho signed a series of laws and agreements initiated on August 4, 1942, that went until 1964 and made it legal to allow Mexican workers in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This agreement, known as the Bracero Agreement, <\/em>stemmed from the labor shortages in the U.S. due to World War II. According to Immigration History (2019), \u201cDuring World War II, the U.S. government negotiated with the Mexican government to recruit Mexican workers, all men and without their families, to work on short-term contracts on farms and in other war industries\u201d (p. 1). The Bracero Agreement<\/em> allowed roughly one million Mexicans to be temporarily admitted into the U.S. as migrant farm workers (Huber, 2010a; Johnson, 1998). It made U.S. employers pay \u201cthe transportation and living expenses of Mexican laborers, as well as wages equal to those of American farmworkers, doing similar work\u201d (Migration Policy Institute, 2013, p. 3).<\/p>\n

According to Carrasco (1998), when the U.S. needed Mexican laborers, they would \u201centhusiastically\u201d welcome the \u201cimmigrants to fill gaps in the labor pool\u201d (p. 77). These jobs, according to Carrasco (1998), are usually \u201ccharacterized by harsh working conditions, enormous amounts of physical labor, and minimal remuneration. In addition to abject working conditions, immigrants have also faced discrimination and resentment\u201d (p. 77).<\/p>\n

According to the United Nations Global Issues: Migration (2021) webpage, \u201cSince the earliest times, humanity has been on the move. Some people move in search of work or economic opportunities, to join family, or to study. Others move to escape conflict, persecution, terrorism, or human rights violations. Still others move in response to the adverse effects of climate change, natural disasters, or other environmental factors\u201d (p. 1). Most of us, unless you are indigenous, are all immigrants who came to the Americas fleeing, displaced, or were sent here from your original country of origin- this is NOT a debate.<\/p>\n

According to the United Nations (n.d.) webpage, through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), there are, \u201cAn estimated 281 million people, approximately 3.6% of the world\u2019s population, currently live outside their country of origin, many of whose migration is characterized by varying degrees of compulsion.\u201d Most immigrants have been forced to leave their homes because of human, civil, and political rights violations, as well as economic, social, and cultural rights such as the right to health, housing, or education. According to Malala Yousafzai (2019), in her book WE ARE DISPLACED, <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cno one leaves home unless<\/p>\n

home is the mouth of a shark.<\/p>\n

you only run for the border<\/p>\n

when you see the whole city<\/p>\n

running as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

-Warsan Shire, \u201cHome,\u201d<\/p>\n

So today, and really every day, let\u2019s remember the lessons of C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez. Let\u2019s remember how we all got here. Appreciate the less fortunate, educate ourselves, and let\u2019s try to find solutions to living together peacefully while being appreciative of all our immigrants today and every day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References:<\/u><\/p>\n

Carrasco, G.P. (1998). Latinos in the United States: Invitation and exile. In R. Delgado, & J. Stefancic (Eds). The Latino condition: A critical reader <\/em>(pp. 77-85). New York University Press.<\/p>\n

Huber, L.P. (2010a). Testimonio as LatCrit Methodology in Education. In S. Delamont (Ed.), Handbook of Qualitative Research in Education, <\/em>377-390. Edward Elgar Publishing.<\/p>\n

Immigration History (2019). Immigration history:<\/em> Timeline. A project of the immigration and ethnic history society. The University of Austin, Department of History, College of Liberal Arts. https:\/\/immigrationhistory.org\/background\/<\/u><\/p>\n

Johnson, K.R. (1998, Fall).\u00a0 Race, the Immigration Laws, and Domestic Race Relations: A \u201cMagic Mirror\u201d into the Heart of Darkness. Indiana Law Journal<\/em>, 73<\/em>(4)2, 1111-1159.<\/p>\n

Migration Policy Institute. (2013, March). Timeline: Major US immigration laws, 1790- present. <\/em>https:\/\/www.migrationpolicy.org\/sites\/default\/files\/publications\/CIR-<\/a>1790Timeline.pdf <\/u><\/p>\n

UNHCR USA (2001\/2025). About UNHCR: The 1951 Refugee Convention. The UN Refugee Agency. https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/us\/about-unhcr\/overview\/1951-refugee-convention<\/a><\/p>\n

United Nations. (2021, January 13). Migration.<\/em> https:\/\/www.un.org<\/u><\/p>\n

Yousafzai, M. (2019). We are displaced: My journey and stories from refugee girls around the world. Little, Brown and Company.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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