Marching on picket lines, fasting for justice, calling a grape boycott that galvanized supporters across the country, never stopping and never failing, Cesar Chavez led the struggle for farmworkers’ rights in the 1960s. As the head of the United Farm Workers (UFW), he denounced employers who denied just wages, access to bathrooms, and unemployment benefits, while requiring long hours in scorching heat and subjecting workers to pesticide poisoning in the fields. While field work remains difficult and physically arduous, the UFW’s advocacy got legal protection for farm workers who previously had none.
Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. was a friend of Cesar Chavez and supported his organizing work with farm workers. Running for president in 1968, RFK visited Chavez as he ended one of his fasts for farmworker justice. His widow, Ethel Kennedy, visited Chavez in 1988 during another of his fasts.
President Joe Biden has a bust of Cesar Chavez in the Oval Office. Cesar Chavez’s granddaughter, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, serves as his campaign manager.
In 2014, President Barack Obama proclaimed Cesar Chavez’s March 31 birthday as Cesar Chavez Day.
“The values Cesar Chavez lived by guide us still. As we push to fix a broken immigration system, protect the right to unionize, advance social justice for young men of color, and build ladders of opportunity for every American to climb, we recall his resilience through setbacks, his refusal to scale back his dreams. When we organize against income inequality and fight to raise the minimum wage — because no one who works full time should have to live in poverty — we draw strength from his vision and example.
While not an official federal holiday, Cesar Chavez day is marked in Minnesota law and by many other state and local governments.
This year, an attack on Cesar Chavez’s memory marks the weekend. Robert Kennedy, Jr. is exploiting Chavez’s memory and the long friendship between the Chavez and Kennedy families. He uses Chavez’s image and name in advertising his campaign, to the shock and horror of the Chavez family, including his sons, Paul and Fernando Chavez, and grandchildren Andres Chavez and Julie Chavez Rodriguez.
This weekend, the Chavez family will announce their endorsement of Joe Biden for president. In that, they take the same stand as dozens of Kennedy family members who have denounced Robert Kennedy, Jr.’s candidacy as a betrayal of his father and family’s political legacy.
The Los Angeles Times reported:
“Chavez family members said they fear that in a close contest, any support for Kennedy could help Republican Donald Trump regain the White House.
“’I’m kind of horrified and saddened about that,’ said Fernando Chavez, who added that he hasn’t stayed in touch with Kennedy Jr. since they worked together decades ago.
“Fernando and others pointed how badly farmworkers were hit by COVID-19, partly fueled by rampant disinformation among Latinos about the vaccine’s efficacy. The Cesar Chavez Foundation worked to vaccinate farmworkers, Andres Chavez said, and Kennedy Jr.’s views on vaccines horrified him.”
As we remember Cesar Chavez this weekend, the words of President Obama’s 2014 proclamation resonate with today’s challenges:
“Throughout his lifelong struggle, Cesar Chavez never forgot who he was fighting for. “What [the growers] don’t know,” he said, “is that it’s not bananas or grapes or lettuce. It’s people.” Today, let us honor Cesar Chavez and those who marched with him by meeting our obligations to one another. I encourage Americans to make this a national day of service and education by speaking out, organizing, and participating in service projects to improve lives in their communities. Let us remember that when we lift each other up, when we speak with one voice, we have the power to build a better world.”
Mary Turck
News Day 