The birth of Latino consciousness came as result of realizing the social status, the lack of opportunities, the racial and prejudice issues in the workplace, the lack of equal educational opportunities in the late 1960s and 1970s. Generally speaking, social movements produce the type of leadership that will appeal to the masses with a vision, strategy and mission. Leaders who emerge from social movements become inspirers of changing the status quo, challenging the authority and moving legislations. Such is the case of the Latino leader in the Civil Rights Movement Cesar Chavez.
Prior historical events have taught lessons to the new emerging leaders of the Civil Rights Movement such as Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez. The non-violence type of protesting has proven to be a means to consolidate the commitment to the cause in a way that the masses will find a meaningful purpose to join, and ask for changes in laws and legislation. Cesar Chavez followed the philosophy of non-violent protesting that once granted India’s independence from the British under the leadership of Gandhi.
The culture of the strike as a means to achieve political results by whether changing legislation, or moving forward with other demands for equity or equality has roots in many national or international prior experiences. Using the strike as a pressure mechanism against the authority was double jeopardy due to its delicate nature and the direction that a strike might take if not under a leadership with a clear vision and mission. Thus, Cesar Chavez used the strike “La Huelga” to his full advantage to achieve the change he envisioned for the migrant farm workers. “If someone commits violence against us, it is much better- if we can-not react against the violence, but to react in such a way as to get closer to our goal. People don’t like to see a non-violent movement subjected to violence, and there is a lot of support around the country for non-violence.”
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“La Causa” found not only support among the Latino population, but it gained popularity across the nation. Chavez’ idea of moving La Causa to the next level was to bring awareness among all Latinos in the United States to reach out to farm workers, students and other organizations. The idea was to bring diversity of ideas and young generation’s energy. The Latino Civil Rights movement was clearly inspired by Martin Luther King’s efforts to change legislation. The thinking beyond non-violent protesting and the idea of marching peacefully to make a statement was a concept used by Gandhi in 1930 during the “Salt March” to symbolically prohibit the British from using India’s natural resources, and defeat the authorities. In 1965, Martin Luther King used the marching concept to protest about the denial of African American population right to vote. Parallel to the Selma March, Cesar Chavez planned the Sacramento March, a year later and symbolically conceptualized it according to the Mexican culture and beliefs.
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More than just a march for the civil rights of the Latino farm workers in effort to unionize and create better-working conditions, the Sacramento March had a vision closely related to tradition, spirituality, and religion. It was the meeting of the two worlds, the old traditional Spanish world and a new “demonstration” concept and fight for the civil rights. The Sacramento March was carefully planned as a pilgrimage during lent period and followed the lessons of the Mexican Revolution led by Emiliano Zapata who fought for the rights of the indigenous population against the landowners in Mexico in 1910.
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This parallelism between the Mexican Revolution led by Zapata and the Latino movement reveals the philosophy behind the Latino thought for social equity. The battle for social equality was not fought to change legislation, nor was it planned to challenge the law or authority. That would eventually have placed Chavez on the other side of the law. Opposite of (National Farm Workers Association) NFWA were the privately owned companies, wineries or farms that employed Hispanic workers. The Sacramento March gained national publicity as the numbers of protesters from Delano to Sacramento increased. Most importantly, it let to important decisions made on behalf of the Latino workers.
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For Cesar Chavez and the workers he represented, the agreement between the harvesters and the owners of the grape company coming to an agreement about improving the working conditions. The acknowledgement of the National Farm Workers Association and the signing of the contract where the harvesting company will treat the migrant farm workers with dignity was a milestone in strive of gaining political and social consciousness side by side of the Civil Rights Movement.
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