César Chávez 1927 – 1993
By MARTÍN E. MARTÍNEZ / Vida En El Valle
SACRAMENTO — As California celebrates César Chávez Day on March 31, legislators, activists and performing artists are pushing to extend the celebration of the Mexican American labor leader’s birthday elsewhere in the country.
This year marks Chávez’s 80th birthday. He is considered a leader who fought for civil rights for all farmworkers and helped change their work and life conditions across the nation.
However, only California has declared his birthday as an official holiday while states like Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin consider it as a voluntary holiday.
Some are pursuing that the rest of the nation joins California in observing March 31 as an official holiday.
Congressman Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, has introduced a bill making Chávez’s birthday a national holiday.
"The creation of a César Chávez National Day would honor the memory of this man while it would educate the new generations about his legacy and it would inspire them to continue his pacific struggle and the respect for this country’s workers," Baca told Vida en el Valle.
Just like people observe Martin Luther King Day, it is fair that people and the rest of the country acknowledge the work by Chávez, because both leaders worked for the same ideals of justice and labor dignity, he said.
The bill was introduced in Congress last year, but legislators have yet to take it up.
Sixteen years ago Baca introduced this same bill, but never received a formal reply. Since then, the bill has been introduced six other times.
"I don’t lose hope that someday this proposal would be approved, and I hope to be able to work better with the next administration," he said.
Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Chávez, alleges that Congress has yet to declare official this date because of a Republican administration.
"The problem is that as long as Republicans are in office, I doubt very much that this proposal could pass. So, our hopes are put in the next administration," Huerta said.
She said Chávez has been acknowledged as a great leader nationwide, but has not received the recognition that matches his importance.
"They talk about him at school or work centers and his legacy has been recognized, but to create a national day in his memory would do justice to someone who has been a true hero, who struggled so farmworkers and blue collar workers have better wages, medical insurance, pensions, housing, among other benefits," Huerta said.
Meanwhile, another bill in Congress looks to Chávez’s legacy.
In January 2007, Congresswoman Hilda Solís, D-Los Ángeles, introduced a bill to conduct a study on Chávez’s life and estate.
The ultimate goal is to recognize the places he lived in as part of the system of the National Parks Department.
"By doing so, all of the places where Chávez used to lived will be an important part of his legacy, especially because he was one of the great first promoters of environment protection," Solís explained.
Solís sponsored the same bill in the Senate. Republican presidential candidate John McCain introduced the bill, which was supported by Sens. Bob Meléndez, Ken Salazar and Barbara Boxer.
Solís proposed the initiative as part of a package containing similar proposals and hopes a resolution is reached by April.
Paul F. Chávez, Chávez’s son, said he hopes that both initiatives be ratified because that would be the very least the administration could do to honor his father’s memory.