The Chicano Movement consisted of hundreds of organizations focusing on a variety of issues. These organizations could be divided into those associations that sought to work through the system and those that called for a major restructuring of the system. As the Chicano movement began in the mid – sixties, the moderates prevailed. The institutions I will be talking about throughout my paper are the UFW (United Farm Workers), CSO (Community Service Organization), AWOC (Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee), and AFL – CIO. Some of the institution concepts you will hear throughout my paper will be about education, better communities, better paying jobs and opportunities, and better working environments. I will mostly talk about the UFW, which is the most significant organization of the movement, and how it connects to the other institutions.
The UFW campaign begun in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Cesar Chavez who is a legacy with in a legacy led it. In 1958, Chavez moved to San Jose, California, where he continued to do farm work. He met Fred Ross who influenced and recruited him into the CSO. Chavez made his way up the ladder, becoming CSO regional director. As regional director, he tried to steer the association toward advocacy of the rights of farm workers. Some members of the CSO disagreed and preferred to focus attention on urban and middle class concerns. Chavez realized that the CSO wanted different things from his perspective. In 1961, Chavez quit CSO and moved to Delano. He used his life savings to start a new union, the Farm Workers Association, known later as the National Farm Workers Association and, later the United Farm Workers.
In Delano the strike against local grape growers in the Kern County was initiated by AWOC, a Filipino union affiliated with the AFL – CIO. The Filipinos stuck to gain higher pay and recognition as a union. Chavez knew what was going on, and the AWOC asked him to join and help conduct the strike.
UFW tactics and strategy at Delano reflected Chavez’s personal philosophy. The farm workers objectives were better working conditions, including higher wages, better communities, education, respect and recognition of their union. Chavez on the contrary was different from other militants of the time because he believed that the American middle class was responsive to the needs of poor, and would support them if given the opportunity. Part of his strategy was given the middle class the opportunity.
The legacy of UFW, Cesar Chavez and the Chicano Movement are the reforms in the fields, medical, pension, and unemployment benefits, better communities with more educational institutions about Chicanos, and more involvement that is political. Chavez is an important catalyst in this legacy. At first, his movement was intentionally done to organize only farm workers. However, it succeeded beyond that and changed some Chicanos civil rights. Like Gandhi and King, Chavez eventually came to support the entire scale of human rights, irrespective of race. This is Chavez’s legacy, a legacy of the Chicano people that is in history, a legacy that will be here until the end of time.
Reference:
Jones, Lynn and Isaac Mankita. Chavez, Huerta and the United Farm workers. 6 Apr. 2001. University of California, Berkeley. 8 Sept 2007 http://lib.berkeley.edu/~ljones/UFW/documents/gonzalez.html>.
Rosales, Francisco A. Chicano!: The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. Arte Publico Press., 1997
