The life that this movie imitates is not that of everyday people working nine to five and returning to their homes in suburbia but of the continuing struggle that farm workers of today still face.
The movie that follows the life of Cesar Chavez gives us a story of a labor and civil rights leader who spoke for nonviolence in the face prejudice, hatred and violence. The struggle he focused attention on continues today.
Chavez made his position clear when it came to non violence, “…people think non-violence is really weak and non-militant. These are misconceptions that people have because they don’t understand what non-violence means. Non-violence takes more guts, if I can put it bluntly, than violence. Most violent acts are accomplished by getting the opponent off guard, and it doesn’t take that much character, I think, if one wants to do it.”
The difficult history of attempts to organize farm workers started a long time ago. Notable early strikes include the labor action in Oxnard, California organized by the Japanese Mexican Labor Association against the sugar beet growers in 1903.
Official violence against an organizing element known as the International Workers of the World (the Wobblies) when they brought a labor action against the hop growers of Wheatland, California in 1913 resulted in 4 deaths. This history of officially sanctioned violence has a deep history in America.
Cesar Chavez’s approach to organizing was influenced by his experience with the Community Service Organization (CSO), which helped people with everyday problems in Mexican American neighborhoods. His methods recognized the migratory nature of farm workers and his persistence and patience helped bring the union to the point it is at today.
Edited/Published by: SB
