Over the course of time, any person who came to live in the United States faced every system of oppression. It is widely assumed that African Americans were the only race undergoing oppression, when in reality, it was all races who were not white. It is completely overshadowed that Filipinos also suffered racism. After the Spanish-American War, the United States took the Philippines as their own territory. Filipinos in the United States were not considered American citizens, therefore, they did not have the same rights as the average American citizen (Depression Era: 1930s: Watsonville Riots). Many Filipinos such as Carlos Bulosan and active participants in the Labor Union took a stand to gain their rights through forms of literature and peaceful …show more content…
Bitter signs read comments such as, “Get rid of all Filipinos or we’ll burn this town down.” The deep rooted hatred had come to the point where these violent, selfless attacks had drawn out any trace of humanity there could have been left in America’s heart.
Through these harsh, discriminating, inhumane conditions, unification came about. In 1936, the Filipino Labor Union was formed to rise against inequity. The first strike that took effect was the Salinas Lettuce Strike. Already being paid less than a dollar an hour, the enraged picketers fought hard to fight against the hourly wage being reduced from forty to thirty cents. According to the article The Salinas Lettuce Strike of 1936, “Vigilantes, encouraged by the growers, surrounded the Filipino camp, burned it, and sent the inhabitants out of the Salinas valley at gun-point” (Salinas Lettuce Strike of 1936). Instead of receiving the change they were determined to get, they decided to seize the strike on November 3rd because of the brutality they were facing. The next major strike that took place was the Delano Grape Strike. This is the strike that led to something new. The Filipino Labor Union then became a much larger association – the United Farm Workers Union, although the strike mostly consisted of Filipino grape pickers. Demanding another raise in pay, Filipino labor workers along with Mexican labor workers went on strike so America would acknowledge
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One of those members is Larry Itliong. Itliong is considered to be the greatest influential participant in the labor movements, Itliong came here from the Philippines in 1929. He became interested in the Labor Union after the Salinas Lettuce Strike. He was the organizer and the leader of the Delano Grape Strike, having influenced Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta to join forces with him. Although the Delano Grape Strike and the Labor union are widely known as Cesar Chavez’s movements, Itliong gave Filipinos what they did not have before: hope and guts. Without his influence, the United Farm Workers Union would not have been formed. The strike would not have been as strong as it was. Another activist was Philip Vera Cruz. Philip Vera Cruz came to the United States in 1926. Along with Itliong, he also actively participated in the Delano Grape Strike. He became the vice president of the United Farmworkers Union. He fought for all labor workers, but his fight for equality caused him to live the rest of his life unhappy. Filipinos are not credited for their work in labor strikes and protests. He says, “Cesar didn't give credit to the Filipinos, even in the beginning. Do you think we did anything? We were the first ones to sit down in the fields. That sure enough is the proof” (A Duty to Fight). Although his anger caused him to live the rest of his life
Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their lives. Geanne Harwood, interviewed on an National Public Radio Broadcast commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, said that “being gay before Stonewall was a very difficult proposition … we felt that in order to survive we had to try to look and act as rugged and as manly as possibly to get by in a society that was really very much against us.” The age of communist threats, and of Joseph McCarthy’s insistence that homosexuals were treacherous, gave credence to the feeling of most society members that homosexuality was a perversion, and that one inflicted was one to not be trusted.
In the first Chapter of the book ‘A Different Mirror’ by (Takaki, 1993) the author embarks on a descriptive narrative that tries to elaborate the concept of a multiracial America. The chapter begins with the author taking a taxi ride in which he is subjected to racial discrimination. The taxi driver questions the author’s origin owing to the fact that his English is perfect and eloquent. This incident prompts a discussion that transpires throughout the chapter as the author tries to explain to his audience that America is a multiracial country with different ethnic groups that moved from their homelands to settle in the United States. The chapter discusses the settlement of various racial groups such as; English immigrants, African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanos and the Irish.
In 1938, the Chavez family lost their farm due to the Great Depression. They were forced to relocate to California and become migrant workers. Chavez was distressed by the poor treatment that migrant farmworkers endured on a daily basis. His powerful religious convictions, dedication to change, and a skill at non violent organizing cultivated the establishment of the United Farmworkers (UFW). It was also referred to as “La Causa” by supporters and eventually became a vital movement for self-determination in the lives of California's farmworkers. The astounding nationwide lettuce and grape boycotts along with public support revealed the atrocities of California agribusiness and resulted in the first union hiring halls and collective bargaining for migrant workers. The details of the childhood of Cesar Chavez and how they would later shape his actions are a vital aspect of this book and the establishment of the farm workers movement.
...ights leader César Estrada Chávez attempted to make the growers and other fellow businessmen understand what the farm workers were going through. In it, he demanded equal rights and demanded that the masses of farm workers be free and treated as humans. The “Letter from Delano” had a remarkable impact on the tide of the table grape boycott, as Chávez’s words served to ignite the fires in the hearts of fellow farm workers and other Americans of unrelated ethnicities as well. These fires burnt for equal rights and freedom for all, and helped cement the strikes and table grape boycott as part of the Civil Rights Movement. Chávez used his dedication to militant nonviolence to achieve equal rights for his fellow farm workers, and helped ensure that they and their future generations would no longer be enslaved by the industry the letter’s receiver, Mr. Barr, represented.
The Pullman Strike of 1894 was the first national strike in American history and it came about during a period of unrest with labor unions and controversy regarding the role of government in business.5 The strike officially started when employees organized and went to their supervisors to ask for a lowered rent and were refused.5 The strike had many different causes. For example, workers wanted higher wages and fewer working hours, but the companies would not give it to them; and the workers wanted better, more affordable living quarters, but the companies would not offer that to them either. These different causes created an interesting and controversial end to the Pullman strike. Because of this, questions were raised about the strike that are still important today. Was striking a proper means of getting what the workers wanted? Were there better means of petitioning their grievances? Was government intervention constitutional? All these questions were raised by the Pullman Strike.
There is much to commend about the inclusion of United Farm Workers (UFW) co-founder and Filipino Larry Itliong in the Hollywood biopic “Cesar Chavez” directed by Diego Luna. However sadly, his depiction is problematic. The film fails to present an accurate history of this historically important farm workers’ movement. “Cesar Chavez” does not stress the historic multi-ethnic partnership between Mexicans and Filipinos in the UFW and the effort that was born as a product the Filipinos’ 1965 Grape Strike. Rather, the film is told from a predominantly Chicano/a perspective that only lightly accents the contribution of Filipino-American farm workers.
The Newark riots of 1967 were very extreme and terrible time in Newark, New Jersey, one of the worst in U.S. history. The riots were between African-Americans and white residents, police officers and the National Guard. The riots were not unexpected. The tension between the city grew tremendously during the 1960's, due to lack of employment for Blacks, inadequate housing, police brutality and political exclusion of blacks from government.
Each of the three strikes will be examined from the standpoint of five main factors. First, what were the roles of women in the strike? What kind of work were they involved in? Second, what interest did the women have in the strike? Third, what kind of relationship did the union have with the women? Did it impair their efforts or support them? Fourth, how did the women ultimately impact the strike? Were they seen as a positive influence? In addition, were they seen as positive by the media or ignored by them? And lastly, what happened after the strike? Did the women continue their new, politically active roles or did they go back to the lives they lived before the strike? Each of these questions will be addressed for each of the three strikes discussed...
In 1897, Theodore Roosevelt and President McKinley discussed taking over the Pacific colony in the event of a war with Spain. When Congress declared war on Spain 5,000 American troops were sent to the Philippines. After the War, McKinley refused to sign the armistice unless Spain gave the United States all of the Pacific islands. Once Spain agreed, he drew up plans for colonial administration. He pleaded to educate the Filipinos and convert them to Christianity. At first, the Filipinos welcomed the American troops but eventually turned on their former alliance and attacked their base. American soldiers described them as gugus and repeatedly insulted and physically abused them. They beat civilians, raped the women and tortured them. They treated them so poorly because they were a group of darker skin than
How far do you think you would go to show your support for your favorite celebrity and to fight against the social classes? Well, some people would start a riot; The Astor Place Riot was a riot that occurred May 10, 1849. It happened in Manhattan, New York with the lower class taking a stand mostly against the upper class. It started primarily because of one man’s performance at the Astor Opera House, William Charles Macready. According to the Off the Grid Blog, the whole conflict began because of rivalry between Macready and another Shakespeare actor, Edwin Forest (Apman). The whole ordeal left many dead and injured, and how it all started is actually quite interesting.
On May 9th 1934 a organized labor strike started in San Francisco that would snowball into a city crippling strike. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) declared a strike for all longshoremen on the west coast, until they received better wages, a union-administered hiring hall, and union membership as a prerequisite for employed longshoremen. The Strike of 1934 lasted for three months, stopping maritime trade in the ports of the Western United States, from San Diego to Seattle. The clash was between the Industrial Association (IA), composed of big business and employers wanting to break the strike, and the ILA, along with other unions that dealt with maritime trades. The Strike of 1934 displayed the power the organized labor had, and how the mistreatment of labor can shut down an entire city and coast.
...ish American War. For the main part, racism only took place in the Philippines. The US thought that it was the main duty of a wealthy nation to help them. It was said to be the “white man’s burden.” The US entered the Philippines because it thought that it was superior in every way. William Taft referred to the Filipinos as “our little brown brothers.”
3. Dolores Huerta was the main negotiator during the Delano grape strike. In 1965 Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez were approached by Filipino members of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee ("AWOC"). AWOC wanted higher wages from the Delano are grape growers. AWOC wanted to negotiate new contracts with their employers but they needed the help of Huerta and Chavez. The NFWA was still new and growing although Huerta thought that NFWA was not ready to attack corporate America she could not refuse to help AWOC. The two unions formed into one union called United Farm Workers union. Under this the union Dolores began the battle with the Delano grape growers. Dolores organized over 5,000 workers to walk off their job and to strike until they could reach an agreement with their employers.
On July 27, 1919, a young black man named Eugene Williams swam past an invisible line of segregation at a popular public beach on Lake Michigan, Chicago. He was stoned by several white bystanders, knocked unconscious and drowned, and his death set off one of the bloodiest riots in Chicago’s history (Shogun 96). The Chicago race riot was not the result of the incident alone. Several factors, including the economic, social and political differences between blacks and whites, the post-war atmosphere and the psychology of race relations in 1919, combined to make Chicago a prime target for this event. Although the riot was a catalyst for several short-term solutions to the racial tensions, it did little to improve race relations in the long run. It was many years before the nation truly addressed the underlying conflicts that sparked the riot of 1919. This observation is reflected in many of author James Baldwin’s essays in which he emphasizes that positive change can only occur when both races recognize the Negro as an equal among men politically, economically and socially.
One of the greatest civil rights activists of our time; one who believed the ways of Gandhi and Martin Luther King that “violence can only hurt us and our cause” (Cesar Chavez); a quiet, devoted, small catholic man who had nothing just like those he help fight for; “one of America's most influential labor leaders of the late twentieth century” (Griswold del Castillo); and one “who became the most important Mexican-American leader in the history of the United States” (Ender). Cesar Chavez; an American farm worker, who would soon become the labor leader that led to numerous improvements for union workers; it is recorded that Chavez was born near Yuma, Arizona on March 31, 1927 and died on April 23, 1993 in San Luis, Arizona. (Wikipedia) His life affected many others as his unselfish deeds changed the labor union force forever. This essay will discuss the reasons Cesar Chavez became involved in Union rights, the immediate impact he had, and also the legacy he left behind with his actions that influenced American society.