Cesar Chavez: The Great Voice of The Migrant Worker

Cesar Chavez: The Great Voice of the Migrant Worker

Thesis: Through inspirations such as work, the Great Depression, Political reformers, and his social status, Cesar Chavez was able to deliver earth-shattering speeches that would reshape the migrant workers world and leave us with legacies that would redefine the status of the Latino in America.

I. Introduction

II. Biography and shaping forces of Cesar Chavez

A. Work: Migrant worker, dropped after 7th grade to travel from farm to farm with his family.

B. Great Depression: Lost his home, family all family forced to work to make ends meet.

C. Leaders That Shaped the World Peacefully: Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi

D. Social status: lower working class, racial prejudice

III. Predominant arguments and rhetorical/style analysis of Cesar Chavez's writing and arguments

A. Migrant workers should receive better working rights and working conditions for they produced the produce that America fed off of.

B. Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

1. Imagery

2. Analogies

C. ``We Must Do Justice.''

1. Juxtaposition

2. Syntax

D. ``The Last Shall be First.''

1. Metaphor/anaphora

2. Statistics

IV. Discussion of the legacies and impacts of Cesar Chavez's rhetoric: analysis and criticism

A. Remembrance: Cesar Chavez Day, ``Si se Puede!'' Agricultural Labor Relations Act,

B. Equality: Better rights for farm workers and migrant workers

C. Awards: Nobel Peace Prize, Hall of Fame

D. Foundations: Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, UFW, Cesar Chavez High School, Cesar E.

Chavez Library, parks?

V. Conclusion

VI. Works Cited

VII. Annotated Bibliography

Javier Ortiz

Mr. Klipfel and Mr. Del Rio AP

US History and English Language and Composition Team

12 December 2007

Cesar Chavez: The Great Voice of the Migrant Worker

History has experienced many attacks on different races of people; the Crusades, the Holocaust, the genocide of Armenians, and the mistreatment of Chicanos in Northern America. But for every attack there is someone who stands up and retaliates against said attacks, Cesar Chavez was just the man. Cesar Chavez was a selfless man who, through his hard work, and determination, left a heroic imprint in American History. Cesar Chavez, through inspirations such as farm-hand work, the Depression, political reformers, and his social status, was able to deliver earth-shattering speeches that would reshape the migrant world and leave us with many and new experiences that would redefine the status of the Latino in the United States.

``I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others?''

Cesar E. Chavez (Chavez 161)

Cesar's early roots toward hard work and justice stemmed from the early incident of losing his home due to corrupt businessmen and unjust court systems. After the eighth grade, and his father needing an extra working hand, Chavez was sent to the fields to work for a living. At a young age Chavez was brought to believe that ``we always had to suffer and be hungry. That was our life (Bruns 3).'' They worked hard for little money and put that towards the imbedded concept of the ``American Dream.'' After coming of age, Chavez left the farm life and joined the US Navy for two years during WWII (Bruns). There he learned discipline and even more appreciation towards the common working man. After his return and marriage to his wife Helen Fabela (Bruns), Chavez entered in the CSO (community service organization) as a union organizer. He would travel the US and give speeches on civil rights' that would soon lead him to a promotion as the CSO's national director(lasculatures). After leaving the CSO, he and Dolores Huerta who, ``heard of [Chavez’s] work and reasons'' (Smith 111), joined him and co-founded the National Farmworkers Association, later to be called the United Farm Workers (lasculatures). There he boycotted grapes and poisoned goods, led ``Huelgas'': strikes, against the use of pesticides., and gave speeches on the effects of pesticide and the political position to the masses of migrant workers until his death in April, 1993.

More than just his work career and experience, the Great Depression was also a puzzle piece in the shaping and creating of Cesar Chavez�s views toward work and use of money. The Great Depression was a time of few job offerings, loss of money, and for some loss of homes. The Chavez family was those who had been affected by the devastating outcome of the time period. After losing the family home, the Chavez family had to join migrant workers on the voyage from farm to farm working for less than minimal wages (incwell). Many times it was hard for them to continue but ``[the] Chavez family joined together each believing in the cause. They helped and supported each other'' (Prouty 213). They, like many migrant workers were pushed to extreme working limits and the outcome of the extraneous force on them would at times lead to no reward. Like the time they, for one week, worked diligently and in the end worked for free as the owner of the fields found their work to be incompetent and lacking. These events would lead migrant workers to strike out at these back-breaking, hard-driving farm owners and the sight of these events would lead Cesar to ``'[feel]