California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 114

Introduced by Assembly Members Campos and Alejo

February 25, 2014

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 114—Relative to César Chávez.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 114, as introduced, Campos. César Chávez.

This measure would call upon all Californians to observe César Chávez’s birthday, March 31, as a day of public service, to recognize the hard work and self-sacrifice that farmworkers go through to feed all the families in our state, and to learn from César Chávez’s life and his mission of nonviolence, social justice, and selfless service to others.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, César Estrada Chávez is one of the most significant
civil rights leaders in the history of our nation. César Chávez
recognized that the dignity of a society can be measured by the
dignity by which the people who help feed our nation are treated;
and

WHEREAS, César Chávez experienced the hardships and
injustices of farmworker life firsthand. He was born on March 31,
1927, in the North Gila River Valley in Arizona, on the small
family farm his grandfather homesteaded. César Chávez’s father
lost the farm during the Great Depression, forcing the family to
join some 30,000 farmworkers who followed the crops throughout
California and lived in tents and makeshift housing that often
lacked a bathroom, electricity, or running water; and

WHEREAS, César Chávez understood the value of education
as a path to a better life because he left school after completing
the 8th grade to work full time, helping to support his family in
the fields. Later in life, César Chávez became self-educated through
his passion for reading; and

WHEREAS, Although later a pacifist, in 1946, César Chávez
enrolled and served his country in the United States Navy. He was
honorably discharged whereupon he married Helen Fabela and
eventually settled in the East San Jose barrio nicknamed “Sal Si
Puedes” (“Get Out if You Can”) to raise a family that eventually
numbered eight children; and

WHEREAS, In San Jose, César Chávez was introduced to the
social teachings of the Catholic Church and trained in peaceful
community organizing strategies at McDonnell Hall, historically
known as Guadalupe Mission Chapel. César Chávez and Fred
Ross, an organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO),
established CSO chapters across California and Arizona during
the 1950s, helping Latinos register to vote, pushing for basic public
services and infrastructure in the barrios, peacefully battling police
brutality and racial discrimination, and creating the most effective
Latino civil rights group of its era; and

WHEREAS, In 1962, after failing to convince the CSO to let
him organize farmworkers, César Chávez resigned from the only
decent paying job he ever held and moved his wife and eight
children to Delano, California. There, with $1,200 in life savings
that was soon gone, César Chávez, his family, and close friends
began building the National Farm Workers Association, which
later became the United Farm Workers of America (UFW); and

WHEREAS, In 1965, in a partnership with a union of Filipino
American farmworkers, César Chávez organized a major strike
against grape growers in California. The following year, in 1966,
César Chávez led an unprecedented 340-mile march, from Delano
to Sacramento, that placed the farmworkers’ plight before the
conscience of the American people. Supporters carried slogans
with the words “HUELGA” (strike) and “VIVA LA CAUSA”
(long live our cause), advocating for improved compensation and
labor conditions. Later efforts, including a 25-day fast by César
Chávez, resulted in the enactment of California’s historic
Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, the first and still the
only law in the nation to “encourage and protect” the right of
farmworkers to organize and bargain with their employers; and

WHEREAS, Through countless strikes, boycotts, marches, and
fasts that produced many victories and some defeats, César Chávez,
who even considered vegetarianism an integral part of living
nonviolently, never stopped his peaceful battles on behalf of the
farmworkers with whom he shared his life. His dedication to his
work earned him the respect of some of our greatest political and
civil rights leaders, including Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King
Jr., and Jesse Jackson. César Chávez’s motto in life, “Sí Se Puede!”
or “Yes We Can!” has served as an inspiration not only for Latinos,
but for working Americans of all walks for life; and

WHEREAS, In 1993, César Chávez died peacefully in his sleep
in San Luis, Arizona. During funeral services in Delano, 40,000
people marched in procession behind his plain pine casket. They
came to affirm César Chávez’s words from his landmark 1984
address to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco: “Once social
change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the
person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person
who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid
anymore”; and

WHEREAS, Although César Chávez was uncomfortable with
personal recognition in life, since his passing Chávez has been
honored in hundreds of communities. César Chávez was awarded
“El Aguila Azteca” (the Aztec Eagle), Mexico’s highest award
presented to people of Mexican heritage. In 1994, President Bill
Clinton posthumously presented César Chávez with America’s
highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2006,
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger inducted César
Chávez into the first class of the California Hall of Fame. In 2011,
the United States Navy announced naming the latest Lewis and
Clark-class cargo ship being built in San Diego the USNS César
Chávez; and

WHEREAS, In 2012, in recognition of the impact of César
Chávez to our nation’s and state’s history, President Barack Obama
established the César E. Chávez National Monument at Nuestra
Senora Reina de la Paz in Keene, California and concurrently
designated La Paz as a National Historical Landmark. In 2013, La
Paz, which is César Chávez’s final resting ground, McDonnell
Hall, located in San Jose, California, the former site of the UFW
headquarters, known as the Forty Acres, the Filipino Community
Hall in Delano, California, and the 1966 march route from Delano
to Sacramento were four of five sites, out of 100, found to be
nationally significant for a National Historic Park honoring César
Chávez. In 2013, McDonnell Hall (formerly Guadalupe Mission
Chapel) was designated a State Historical Landmark for its close
association with the life and work of César Chávez; and

WHEREAS, Since César Chávez’s passing, the UFW has
continued his work through organizing farmworkers and campaigns
to enact laws and regulations to bring dignity and protections to
farmworkers. Meanwhile, the César Chávez Foundation continues
improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of farmworkers and
other low-wage working families through 30 high-quality
affordable housing communities it has built or renovated and
manages in four states, a network of nine popular educational
Spanish-language radio stations in three states, after-school tutoring
for disadvantaged students in two states, and the National Chávez
Center, including a visitor center, memorial gardens, and
educational center on 187 acres in the Tehachapi Mountains where
César Chávez lived and worked, and is buried; and

WHEREAS, César Chávez successfully increased public
awareness of farmworker working conditions. To many
Californians the farmworkers’ struggles are an issue from the past,
a belief reflected by the fact that farmworker suffering typically
takes place in remote areas far from cities, thereby rendering
farmworkers invisible to our society. The fruits and vegetables
that we enjoy in our daily lives are produced by farmworkers who
often endure long hours of backbreaking work and still face
challenges such as inadequate enforcement of pesticide, safety,
and labor protection laws in the fields; and

WHEREAS, Farmworkers still dream of providing a better life
for their children, but the reality of having to move from crop to
crop makes this dream hard to achieve. Economic forces and the
rising cost of living have pushed farmworkers further into poverty;
and

WHEREAS, In 2000, the Legislature passed and Governor Gray
Davis signed into law Senate Bill 984 (Chapter 213 of the Statutes
of 2000), to create the first annual state holiday in the country on
César Chávez’s birthday, March 31, in recognition of César Chávez
as the most important Latino leader in the United States during
the 20th century. Under that law, the State Board of Education
also created a statewide curriculum on César Chávez and
encourages schools across the state to engage teachers and students
in service learning projects as a way of honoring the legendary
farm labor and civil rights leader; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature calls upon all Californians
to observe César Chávez’s birthday, March 31, as a day of public
service; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature calls upon all Californians to
recognize the hard work and self-sacrifice that farmworkers go
through to feed all the families in our state; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature calls upon all Californians to
learn from César Chávez’s life and his mission of nonviolence,
social justice, and selfless service to others; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the Chávez family, particularly César Chávez’s
widow, Helen Chávez, the United Farm Workers of America, the
César Chávez Foundation, and the author for appropriate
distribution.