An apt time to honor César Chávez
Express-News Editorial Board
César Chávez, fighting for the rights of farmworkers, also was standing up for immigrants.
Photo: File Photo, Associated Press
That would be comprehensive immigration reform — to include a path to citizenship and a properly constructed AgJobs component giving Texas agriculture the security of a stable workforce while protecting workers from exploitation.
The annual event — co-sponsored by the city of San Antonio — comes at a propitious time. It appears, after Latinos flexed electoral muscle last year, that conditions are more favorable than they have been in awhile for reform to be enacted.
If it is, it will be in no small measure attributable to the exertions of pioneers such as Chávez, who fought for farmworker rights in co-founding the United Farm Workers Union. This fight occurred, however, with the knowledge that, in many respects, he was also fighting for immigrant rights — Mexicans and immigrants from elsewhere comprising much of the farm labor force then and now. Actually, since agriculture took root in much of the Southwest.
And it may have started as a battle for farmworker rights — including the right for humane treatment and pay in the fields — but Chavez’s legacy is also that he gave impetus to the activism that in the modern era has earned Latinos equal rights under the law, if not always in practice.
The battle for immigration reform properly falls under that banner, the organizers of this event — the César E. Chávez Education and Legacy fund — are saying by choosing this year’s theme.
They are correct. Immigration reform is needed because a large segment of the population is unnecessarily presented with obstacles to working for the benefit of many while simultaneously risking deportation. Families, with U.S. citizen children in them, are torn apart.
Whether undocumented immigrants toil in the field or — as is more likely — in urban settings, they deserve fairness and due process. And comprehensive reform would simply add common sense balance if it includes that path to citizenship. Fortunately, even much of the GOP seems to be embracing this.
Also in keeping with Chávez’s legacy, organizers are asking for marchers to bring a canned item for donation to the San Antonio Food Bank. And this, too, honors the memory of Chávez.
The march begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at the corner of Guadalupe and South Brazos streets. The grand marshal this year is Arturo Rodriguez, UFW president.