In the history of the United States of America there are a plenty of cases connected with the fact of racial segregation and the ignorance of establishment to give work for those who immigrated to the US. Dan Labotz catches our attention on the case of farmer workers strike in early 1970-th in his book “Cesar Chavez and La Causa”. The author points out the theme of a latinos movement called United Farm Workers (UFW) and its leader Cesar Chavez, a man who helped many Latino-origin farmers to struggle for their rights. The title is straight-forward in understanding the main theme and idea of the book: Cesar Chavez was appointed as a desired president of the UFW.
The author in this book continues realizing the harm that American establishment does. As Vijay Prashad, he criticizes the opinion of racial invalidity. American people are too far from a harmony of nations and the reason is in the separation of interests and points of view. Dan Labotz is more inclined here to praise his antagonist, first, because of his courage and faith, second, he ventured to unite under main idea masses of people, third, this challenge changed agricultural problem in West and Midwest of the US throughout Latin Americans.
Beginning with the plot of the book, we should pay attention on the style it is written in. As it is a live story, so the author gives us a close information about the farmers movement in the US. Cesar Chavez was a simple farmer from Mexico looking for a better future for him and his family. He confronts with the problem of unemployment for Mexican immigrants and together with such indignant people he creates the movement of farmers to achieve their right for working on the area of the US. He makes strikes and boycotts. The author coincides this formation with the cotton strikes of 1933.
Antagonist’s first and main problem was to overcome the fear in people:
The workers lived in fear; they were powerless and they knew it and they expected nothing would change this fact. Many would pack up and leave the field or the camp. One of Chavez’s first tasks was to measure the level of this fear; he had to find out what it was the people would tolerate, what it was they wanted for themselves. He felt the NFWA would never succeed unless it met the people where they were, unless it started with their level of expectation. (Ronald B. Taylor 107)
The author tends to glorify all attempts of Cezar to deal with this problem. Finally, he prospers in making sure that movement and activity of every Latino farmer will support their requirements to the upper classes of people.
The story incorporates the desire of migrant workers to serve their lives under the laws of the country. Dan Labotz displays pictures of cruelties with the members of the movement. Who is worth living? As “pure” Americans think, only a kind of them. In modern society this problem is unsolved, because there is a tendency of last centuries Europeans to colonize and expanse new territories with people. The author do not make parallels with this standpoint. Instead of this he describes the philosophy of a Freeman in Chavez’s mind. Yes, he was one of those whose own point of view survived, even at the cost of his life. “Specifically, we examine Chavez’s rhetorical transformation of Freeman, Nagi Daifullah, Juan de la Cruz, Rufino Contreras, and Rene Lopez, all of whom died violently as a result of their support for the UFW, from slain union members into martyrs for a just cause.” (Richard J. Jensen 1)
Those martyrdoms are hard to endure and the author bears in our minds that such heroic deeds behave in ourselves the right and radical state of public opinion. Nevertheless, this is not a simple example. People in modern world are still fighting for their lives and rights every now and then preventing from constant unfairness of the establishment.
The result of Chavez’s movement is that suburbs of Chicago place now the largest Latino-origin settlement of people. Moreover the continuing spreading of Latino people influence on American culture, culinary, traditions and language at last. Agribusiness with a strong support of people like Cezar keeps providing a constant growth of American economy.
To sum up, we should realize the great role of the book by Dan Labotz, based on real events, in building democracy even by such an unpopular and, as for me, inadmissible ways. Cezar Chevez is a true crusader for a nowadays’ youth of America to demonstrate the power of spirit and mind. As one classic writer says: “America waits for its heroes!”
Works Cited
César Chávez and la causa, Dan La Botz, Pearson Longman, 2005.
“Chavez, Cesar Estrada.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2007.
Mariscal, Jorge. “Left Turns in the Chicano Movement, 1965-1975.” MonthlyReview”. 2002.
Taylor, Ronald B. Chavez and the Farm Workers. Boston: Beacon Press, 1975.