latinos' rights - unit 6

cesar chavez

  • *“dr. king of the workers’ movement”

  • led the united farm workers (UFW) in the 1950s

    *big believer in non violence

    • hunger strikes → 21 days (mad at his own community of farmers that wanted to fight back back - idea of non-violence to bring his people together

united farm workers (UFW)

  • *led by cesar chavez

  • goal: fight for rights of laborers and chicanos (citizenship wasn’t a major issue then)

    • reach goal by using tactics such as:

      • grape worker strike → 5 years (growers would try to get around this - president nixon helps the growers)

      • boycott of wine (got white people in california to boycott wine -  “there is blood in those grapes” - the boycott worked since it severely hits their profits

      • non-violent marches (trying to gain a fair contract and negotiate fair wages and terms - growers were resistant)

  • picked up members during a grape workers’ strike at delano, california in 1965 as it caught the attention of reformers around the country

delores huerta

  • background: 

    • brother-in-law was cesar chavez 

    • was a teacher but stopped since kids she taught were children of farm workers 

      *this impacted their education and delores huerta couldn’t fathom and felt terrible for the living conditions of her students, especially when many of them were children of agricultural workers, who were not paid much

  • activism: 

    • founded the community service organization (CSO) in the 1950s

    • became part of the feminist movement after meeting gloria steinem 

      *women in the movement are discriminated differently and has different issues 

      • stereotypes of being a latina woman

community service organization (CSO)

  • *began by delores huerta in the 1950s

  • purpose was to get mexicans registered to vote, citizenship, and accommodations for voting ballots and driver’s tests to be in spanish

  • goal: register voters, citizenship classes

    *worked with cesar chavez in the 1960s

laraza party

  • was once a political party and now works to help people in the latino community

    • known today as unidos us

      *founded by jose angel gutierrez and mario compean, both members of an organization of young people

      • they supported for mexican americans:

        • better educational opportunities 

        • better job opportunities

        • improved quality of life

league of united latin american citizens (LULAC)

  • founded in 1929 to fight discrimination 

    *still working today to improve opportunities for hispanic americans and voter registration

  • one of the largest groups for this cause

deferred action for parents of americans and lawful permanent residents (DAPA)

  • *was overturned

    • was a presidential executive action signed by obama

deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA)

  • *still exists → this is a presidential executive action signed by obama

    • president obama allowed undocumented immigrants (children) into america under a temporary legal status (ensured temporary relief from deportation and gave work authorization with three-year renewable periods)  → cannot be deported and can get financial aid

      • this program was a result of the dream act, which failed in congress since it granted citizenship

        *initially under the program, if they were under the age of 31 on july 15, 2012, came to the US under the age of 16, or lived in the US in the five years prior and had an education with little to no misdemeanors, they were eligible for the program

        • in 2014, obama expanded the possibility of being eligible for the program by making the cut-off date in 2010 for those who were under 16 years old

latinos’ issues today

  • crisis at the border

    • people coming for a better life, safer place to live, escape violence and poverty in their home country in central and south america

      • many are unaccompanied children - 120,000 in 2022

        *over 2 million people processed at the bored in 2022 with biden’s open-border policy (being bussed to big cities like nyc)

  • path to citizenship

  • wall between the US and mexico

  • representation in the government, media, shows, movies, etc.

  • job opportunities

    • upper levels (CEO)

    • STEM careers