Editorial:
In the month of March we celebrate two great movements, both associated with minority rights – Cesar Chavez Day and International Women’s Day.
Both movements were similar in scope. In the 1900s, women were fighting oppression and inequality, becoming more vocal and active in their campaigning for change when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.
Cesar Chavez Day is celebrated for Chavez’ selfless dedication to farm workers and worker rights, economic justice, civil rights, environmental justice, peace, nonviolence, empowerment of the poor and disenfranchised.
Both movements were fighting for the rights of the underrepresented to bring about change, equality, and a better life for all. Women were and are considered a minority not in numbers but in the rights afforded them. International Women’s Day was started in the early 1900’s and in 1920 women finally received the right to vote. But that was not the end of their struggle.
Today women are still fighting for equality, in particular equality in the workplace where they still earn less then their contemporaries and are limited by the all too real glass ceiling. And while women are fully engaged in politics they have as of yet had a women candidate represent their party for President. All too often women candidates and women doing the work of men have had to prove that they are as tough as men. We are reminded of the news story this week of the female Naval captain who was fired from her job for cussing out her suborinates – a case of a women having to act tough?
Cesar Chavez also fought for workers rights: the right for fair pay, humane treatment, the right to go the bathroom (farmers did not provide port-a-potties or the time to take a bathroom break), the right to work without pesticides being spayed on them, and the list goes on. But the symbol of Chavez reached way beyond the fields and became a symbol for Chicano Rights and Hispanic Rights. He became the focal point for community leaders to follow and fight for the rights of local communities, for political representation, social justice, and environmental justice. Chavez achieved success for the farmworkers, but just like for the women this was not the end of the road but merely the beginning.
With the recent events unfolding before us, the “Compton Cookout” at UCSD and in Texas where the highest ranking Republican, running for his party’s Gubernatorial nomination, lost a one-sided race to a unknown, who was underfunded. It wasn’t even close. Victor Carrillo lost by 60% of the Republican vote. Carrillo said that his name drove voters to support his opponent David Porter. We still have a long way to go.
It is just not in politics but through the whole spectrum of society that both women and Hispanics have still to fight for equality. And while many like to look at the growing population of Hispanics and declare that we have achieved equality this is the furthest thing from the truth.
The truth is that we are a long way from equality and the first step is to recognize the problem and then to work on solving the problem as a community.