Cesar Chavez and The Chicano Movement

1
Cesar Chavez and The Chicano Movement

• 1965-1975

2
Cesar Chavez 1927-1993

• Born in Yuma, Arizona in 1927, Cesar Chavez spent
  his childhood as a migrant worker. In the 1940s,
  he moved to San Jose, California where he married
  Helen Favila. Chavez met Fred Ross of the
  Community Service Organization and became an
  organizer for the CSO learning grass roots
  organizing methods.

3

• He became general director of the national CSO,
  but in 1962 resigned and moved to Delano, where
  he organized the National Farm Workers
  Association. Their most effective tactic was the
  boycott. The NFWA urged supporters not to buy
  products from companies that did not sign a
  contract with the union.

4
NFWA?UFW

• In 1967,the UFW targeted the Giumarra Vineyards
  Corporation (the largest producer of table grapes
  in the US), boycotting all table grapes. After
  five years, they finally obtained a contract with
  the grape growers. The Union turned its attention
  to the lettuce growers of the Salinas Valley.

5
End of the Bracero Program

• 1964- The bracero program finally ends, in part
  due to pressure form the NFWA and its supporters.
  That same year, President Lyndon Johnson signs
  the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• The new law prohibits racial discrimination and
  establishes affirmative action programs to remove
  discrimination in advertising, recruitment,
  hiring, job classification, promotion, wages and
  condition of employment.

6
Timeline of Events

• 1965- On September 8, Filipino farm workers from
  the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee
  strike the Di Giorgio Corporation, a large grape
  grower in the San Joaquin Valley of California,
  demanding recognition of their organization and
  higher wages. The following week, Chavez and
  Huerta lead the NFWA in a vote to join the
  Agricultural Workers organizing Committee strike.

7
La Causa

• 1966- From March 17 to April 11, Cesar Chavez and
  the National Farm Workers Association march from
  Delano to the California capital in Sacramento to
  publicize their strike. They arrive on Easter
  Sunday. On August 22, the NFWA and the
  Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee unite
  to form the United Farm Workers Organizing
  Committee (UFW). Shortly thereafter, the Di
  Giorgio Corporation grants the UFW membership a
  contract.

8

• 1968-On February 15, Chavez begins a twenty-five
  day fast at Forty Acres, near Delano, California.
  Shortly thereafter, he appears in court to
  respond to an injunction filed by the Giumarra
  Corporation aimed at prohibiting picketing by the
  UFW. Chavez is too weak from his hunger strike
  to testify, and the incident gains national
  attention and sympathy. On March 10, he breaks
  his fast at a Catholic mass in Delanos public
  park with 4,000 supporters at his side, including
  Senator Robert Kennedy.

9

• 1970- The UFW wins a major victory when 40
  growers in Californias Coachella Valley ask to
  negotiate contracts with the union. Huerta leads
  two months of negotiations that result in better
  pay, a union hiring hall, creation of formal
  grievance procedures, restrictions on the use of
  pesticides, rehiring of strikers, and employer
  contributions to a health fund.
• In another victory, grape growers in Delano sign
  three-year contracts with the UFW. Meanwhile,
  when Chavez refuses to call off a lettuce
  boycott, he is jailed and then released, pending
  an appeal to the California Supreme Court.

10
Embrace the Legacy

• Cesar Chavez,1927-1993

11
Dolores Huerta

• Born in New Mexico, Dolores Huerta moved to
  Northern California with her family. But unlike
  most other farm- worker leaders, she did not
  labor in the fields. In explaining why she
  dedicated her life to service, first in the CSO
  and then in the farm workers union, she stated

12

• My background is a little different than most
  people. My mother was a business woman and she
  was born hereI was always active in
  organizations. I wasin Girl Scouts for ten
  years. I was active in all the Catholic groups. I
  started a couple of teen-age centers. I always
  liked to organize. Even when I was really youngI
  liked to join things (Rosales 1996133).

13
(No Transcript)
14
El Teatro Campesino

• The Teatro Campesino and Luis Valdezs
  contribution to the formation of a Chicano art
  movement are legendary. But in its early years
  Valdez only wanted the genre to serve the
  farm-worker cause. In Chavezs own words

15

• Well it helped with the workersit was street
  theater. It was able to deal with three important
  things. One was just deal withlike were here to
  stay. You know, he came out singing Viva la
  Huelga and No nos moveran and all that stuff,
  great! The other thing he was able to ridicule
  growers which was great. Not attack them but
  ridicule, then deal with the internal problems we
  had about the strike-breakers or being afraid.
  Friday meetings would be jammed with people
  because even though we were losing the
  striketheyre still coming because the teatro
  was here- Cesar Chavez

16
(No Transcript)
17
Chicano! Part 4

• The Farm Worker Labor Movement

18
Struggle in the Cities

• The 1960 Census counted nearly 4 million Mexican
  Americans with a per capita income of 968,
  compared with 2,047 for white Americans.
• The median school grade for Latinos was 8.1
  versus 12.0 for whites. In Texas alone, the
  median grade level was 4.8.
• In San Antonio, Texas, only 1.4 percent of
  Chicanos had a college degree. In this same city,
  only 49.7 of the Mexican population lived in
  homes with plumbing versus 94 for the whites.

19
City Riots

• Conditions in the cities were so detrimental that
  several of the minority populations rebelled,
  especially in the African American neighborhoods.
  
• In 1965, the Watts Riots occurred causing
  millions of dollars of damage and leaving 35
  dead. Riots also took place in Newark, NJ and
  Detroit, Michigan.

20
Inner City Schools

• In 1968, 91 of the students enrolled in
  institutions of higher learning were white, 6
  were African American, and just less than 2 were
  Latinos.

• In Los Angeles, segregation increased. Mexicans
  made up more than 80 of the Boyle Heights-East
  Los Angeles area. The Eastside had overcrowded
  classrooms, a lack of Mexican-American teachers,
  and a high dropout rate.

21
Students Organize

• In 1968, the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de
  Aztlan (MEChA) was created to promote higher
  education among Chicanos by poet Alurista.

• In 1967, students met at Loyola University (Los
  Angeles) and founded the United Mexican American
  Students (UMAS).

• Chicano students formed the Mexican American
  Youth Organization (MAYO) in San Antonio, TX. One
  of its leaders was Jose Angel Gutierrez.

• In 1967, the Brown Berets was formed in Los
  Angeles to defend neighborhoods against crime and
  police brutality. It also promoted cultural
  awareness and pride.

22
MALDEF

• The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund was
  formed in San Antonio, Texas in 1968 with help
  from the Ford Foundation to promote and protect
  the civil rights of Mexican Americans through
  class action litigation, community education, and
  leadership training.
• Vilma Martinez, a lawyer from Texas became its
  general counsel from 1973 to 1982.

23
The East L.A. Walkouts

• In March of 1968, nearly 10,000 Chicano students
  walked out of five Los Angeles high
  schools-Lincoln, Roosevelt, Garfield, Wilson, and
  Belmont.
• Prior to the walkout, the school system had
  pushed out more than 50 of the Chicano students,
  through either expulsion, transfers, or simply
  lack of caring.

24

• In 1967, only 3 of the teachers and 1.3 of the
  administrators of these 5 schools had Spanish
  last names.
• Sal Castro, a teacher at Lincoln HS at the time,
  became a leader figure for these youngster, both
  high school and some college students, and was
  indicted by a grand jury.
• One of the student leaders, Moctezuma Esparza,
  produced a film in 2006 memorializing the events.

25
Chicano! Intro
26
Chicano Movement

• Other Chicano high school students also walked
  out in protest Denver, San Antonio, Phoenix, and
  Delano among others.
• The walkouts, which spread throughout the
  Southwest, had a tremendous impact on the
  participants a majority remained activists and
  went on to receive higher education (Acuna,
  2008260)

27
Brown Beret- Carlos Montes

• Carlos Montes, an original member of the militant
  Brown Berets, recalls why he became a movement
  activist I was buying into this whole thing
  about the American Dream. Get an education. You
  can be whatever you want just read all these
  books and listen to your teachers. Even though at
  the back of my mind I was saying, Something is
  going on here, you know, the reality that I see
  here is different from what youre saying.

28
Crusade for Justice

• On March 20, 1968, students walked out of classes
  at Denvers West Side High School to demand the
  resignation of a teacher who reportedly said in
  class. All Mexicans are stupid because their
  parents were stupid and their parents were
  stupidif you eat Mexican food, youll look like
  a Mexican.
• The protest went on for three days and 25 people
  were arrested, including poet and activist
  Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez.

29
Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez

• In 1969, he formed The Crusade for Justice in
  Denver. The main role of the Crusade for the
  Chicano Movement was establishing cultural
  nationalism and a vague notion of separatism.
• Gonzalez also wrote an epic poem, I am Joaquin
  that became the anthem for the movimiento.

30
I Am Joaquin- by Luis Valdez
31
I Am Joaquin-Corky Gonzalez

• Joaquin feels that he speaks for both for himself
  and for an entire culture. With what aspects of
  Mexican American history and experience does the
  speaker identify himself?
• Joaquin embraces several seemingly contradictory
  aspects of his heritage. For example he
  identifies with both the Spanish and Indian
  peoples. What are some other conflicting elements
  of his heritage, and how does Joaquin reconcile
  them within himself?
• The presence of conflict is a central element in
  I Am Joaquin. 1. With what is the speaker in
  conflict and why? 2. Where does he find refuge
  from strife?

32
Reies Lopez Tijerina

• In 1963, The Alianza Federal de Mercededs is
  incorporated by Reies Lopez Tijerina
• On October 15, 1966, Tijerina and 350 other
  supporters commandeer the Camp Echo Amphitheater
  in Kit Carson National Forest, in northern New
  Mexico.
• When Park Rangers attempt to intervene, Tijerina
  orders his men to have them arrested for
  trespassing.

33
The Alianza Federal de Mercedes

• On June 5, 1967 members of the Alianza make an
  armed attack on a courthouse in the village of
  Tierra Amarilla to make a citizens arrest of the
  District Attorney, Alfonso Sanchez.
• During the attack, a jailer and a police officer
  are wounded. Tijerina escapes when the National
  Guard arrive but is later captured and sentenced
  to two years in prison.

34
Attack on Tierra Amarilla

• Chicanos! Part 2

35
Chicano Moratorium

• 1970- In July, a National Chicano Moratorium
  Committee anti-Vietnam War march and rally in
  Houston, Texas, draws 5,000 people.
• The following month, a second rally is held in
  East Los Angeless Laguna Park, this time
  attracting 30,000.
• After some gatherers loot a local liquor store,
  police attack the crowds with clubs and tear gas.

36
Ruben Salazar

• Later that afternoon, a local newspaper and TV
  reporter was having a drink with two of his
  co-workers from KMEX-TV in a bar called The
  Silver Dollar when Sheriff deputies fire a tear
  gas canister into the bar hitting him in the head
  and killing him.
• Salazar had already been warned by the LAPD about
  his coverage of police brutality cases.

37
East LA Riot

• Death of Ruben Salazar by Frank Romero

38
Chicano Moratorium-video
39
Crystal City, TX

• In 1969, Jose Angel Gutierrez and several young
  volunteers begin to organize politically in their
  hometown Crystal City, TX.
• Although Chicanos composed more than 85 of
  population of 8,500, a white minority, who owned
  95 of the land, controlled the citys politics.
• The median years of education were 2.3 grades for
  Chicanos. More than 70 of the Chicano students
  dropped out and school authorities strictly
  enforced a no-Spanish rule.

40
Crystal City High School

• In 1969, when two cheerleader positions were
  vacant, Chicano students were told they could not
  fill the vacancies since their quota of one had
  been met.
• The school board also imposed a requirement that
  any candidate for cheerleader had to have at
  least one parent who graduated from the high
  school.

41
La Raza Unida Party

• After several days of protest, 1,700 student walk
  out of school and their parents formed a
  citizens organization and decided that Mexicans
  would take over the school board in the spring
  election of 1970.
• In April, the group of parents and students had
  created a political party and took over 4 of the
  7 seats in the School Board. They also elected
  Chicanos to City Councils in the area and even
  mayors!

42
La Raza Unida Party

• In 1972, a new political party holds its first
  national convention in El Paso, TX.
• Delegates decide to promote Chicano candidates
  for local elections instead of supporting major
  party candidates in national elections. Jose
  Angel Gutierrez is elected national chairman.

43
Vietnam War ends- 1973

• A cease-fire agreement that, in the words of
  Richard Nixon, "brings peace with honor in
  Vietnam and Southeast Asia," is signed in Paris
  by Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho. The agreement
  is to go into effect on January 28.