How Did Cesar Chavez Impact Society

The Mexican-American Cesar Chavez has changed the lives of many people. He was a kind man who devoted his life into helping people. He was a great union leader and labor organizer. Chavez’s parents taught him about the important ideas of hard work, the importance of education, and about respect. Cesar Chavez had a positive social impact on the United States during the twentieth century because he changed the lives of many farm laborers in America.
Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona to immigrant parents. As a child, Cesar helped work on the farm by bringing water back to his and feeding animals. His parents believed school was very crucial for Cesar. As a kid he did not understand English so in school it was very hard

for him to communicate with teachers. He was punished by teachers in school for speaking Spanish to them. He learned to read English and learned Spanish from his family. Cesar’s parents taught Cesar to show respect and to help others when they are in need. Cesar’s parents helped his uncles when they were in need and had little food to eat. When he was 10 years old, their house was taken away and they moved to California. At California their family moved from farm to farm looking for work picking fruits and vegetables. At 7th grade he dropped out of school to work full time in the fields to support his family. Life on the farm was very tough. Chavez and his family worked long hours. They had very few bathrooms and barely had any clean water to drink. Farm workers like his family were not treated with respect of any dignity. Cesar and his family worked very hard for little money. His whole family including the children worked. Sometimes the men who were in charge of the farm workers would cheat Chavez and his family. Cesar’s family had very little money and food. However, his family never thought of themselves as poor. His mother told Cesar to look for homeless people so she could cook them a meal.
When Cesar met Father Donald Mcdonnell and Fred Ross, his life would forever be changed. Fred Ross believed that if people came and worked with each other, then they could make their community better. Fred Ross hired Chavez to work for him in the Community Service Organization. This organization helped people in the community to learn how to vote. Chavez encouraged many people in communities. He later left the Community Service Organization and focused on helping the poor Mexican farm laborers gain the respect and dignity they deserve. He founded the National Farm Worker Association. This organization combined with Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and was later known as the United Farmworkers Union.
“Within 3 years, Chavez had enrolled 1,700 families in the NFWA” (Cesar Chavez 1) This showed that many people were starting to recognize him and supported his ideas.

This also showed that they also believed farm workers should be treated with more respect and dignity. This association did not just help its members gain more rights, but it also helped navigate social services and government agencies. Later, members of the NFWA could participate in a funeral burial program, a farm workers credit union, and the union. The NFWA, being one of the most active, have gained all these rights and privileges through its hard work and dedication. Leading pilgrimages, strikes, boycotts and fasts, helped to gain better fair medical coverage, better working conditions, higher wages, and workable

pensions.
One of the most popular boycotts was the Delano Grape Boycott. On September 8, 1965, Filipino American grape workers, who were members of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, walked out on strike against wine grape growers and Delano-area table. They were protesting many years of poor pay and conditions. The Filipinos asked Cesar Chavez and the National Farm Workers Association, to join their strike. The NFWA members voted to join the Filipino workers’ walkouts on Mexican Independence Day on September 16, 1965. “Chavez resorted to implementing a boycott on all California grapes… national consumption of California grapes dropped an estimated 20%. (Cesar Chavez, 2). This showed that the NFWA is a strong association. Cesar's boycott worked for many reasons. Cesar insisted that the Latino and Filipino protesters, go on strike together, sharing strike kitchens, the same picket lines, and union halls. He also asked the strikers to take a solemn vow to stay nonviolent. This strike attracted support from other unions, students, Latinos and other minorities, Church activists and civil rights groups.
Cesar led a 300-mile march, from Delano to Sacramento. It put the farm workers struggle right before the conscience of the American people. The strike soon turned into a boycott, including table grapes which was popular throughout North America.
Cesar thought of nonviolence as more than a tactic or strategy.

Cesar admired heroes like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr for their nonviolent methods. He followed Gandhi and Dr. King’s practice of nonviolence for the protest against grapes. Some young male strikers started talking about acts of violence. They wanted to fight back at the owners who have treated them poorly. They wanted to fight back to show that they were tough and manly. Some of the strikers viewed nonviolence as very inactive and even cowardly. However, Cesar did not believe in violence at all. He believed nonviolence showed more manliness than violence and that it supports you if you’re doing it for the right reason. He thought nonviolence made you to be creative and that it lets you keep the offensive, which is important in any contest. Following his role model Ghandi, “Chavez would go on hunger strikes” (Cesar Chavez 2). This showed that he would starve for his cause and that he was very motivated. It also showed that he was a very peaceful and nonviolent protester. Chavez was fasting to rededicate the movement to nonviolence. He fasted for 25 days, drinking only water and eating no food. This act was an act of penitence for those who wanted violence and also a way of taking responsibility as leader of his movement. This fast split up the UFW staff. Some of the people could not understand why Cesar was doing the fast. Others worried for his health and safety. However the farmworkers

understood it. In those 25 days Cesar had lost 35 pounds. The doctors said that his life was in danger. However the fast worked. The talk of violence had stopped. Dr. King wrote to Cesar, expressing his solidarity and his admiration. The fast ended with a mass of thousands of people in Delano.
The grape strike and boycott continued. Cesar knew that they needed more to win this. So the United Farm Workers and Cesar started to boycott in a labor dispute. This boycott changed the UFW’s role in the battle. When before the odds were stacked against them, now farmworkers appealed for help from the American people. Grape strikers told stories and organized support for the grape boycott all across the U.S and even Canada. Chavez said “Well if farmworkers are equal, they deserve the same protection of the law that other men enjoy” (Cesar Chavez 2). He meant that farmers are just as equal as every other person, they are equally important and they should get protection just like others. Thousands of supporters joined the strikers who helped organize the boycott.
By 1970, the grape boycott was successful. “April 1, 1970, the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee on the one hand, and David Freedman & Co with Wonder Palms Ranch on the other signed the nation’s first table grape labor contract” (Cesar Chavez 2). Chavez finally got the California grapes company to increase their wage and provision for health insurances. Now, many farm workers were going to live better.
Although Chavez’s appearance makes him look like a servant or worker, he has the qualities of a leader. The life of Cesar E. Chavez teaches us about the hardships of leadership and service. He also teaches us that we humans even with many flaws, are still capable to serve people with a good example. Chavez lived within the hardships of being born a Mexican man. He lived his life as a human being loving everyone despite their creed or background. The legacy of Cesar Chavez lives on with us today.