Remembering César Chávez

In our society's peculiar system of rewarding people for their labor, those who perform the work most essential for survival—growing and cooking food, tending to children, making with their hands the products we use every day—usually earn the least amount of money.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in farm work, arguably the most socially useful job of all. Think about what you ate for breakfast this morning. Just about every ingredient in your morning meal was touched by the hands of a farmworker, or by a tool or machine wielded by one.

Yet historically California farmworkers have faced not only dismally low wages but exposure to pesticides and other occupational hazards, along with harassment and intimidation directed at those who tried to organize to better their lot.

César Chávez, the United Farm Workers leader whose birthday our state celebrates today, dedicated his life to remedying those injustices with marches and rallies in cities including Sacramento- where the park across from City Hall is named for him, Salinas and Yuma, Ariz.

It would be comforting to think that by now, almost 20 years after his death, the problems he confronted have been solved.

Yet earlier this month, the Associated Press reported, a case was settled in San Joaquin County Superior Court against two farm labor contractors who violated regulations aimed at protecting workers from heatstroke. A pregnant teenager died as a result; the contractors will pay fines of $370 and $1,000 respectively and perform several hours of community service.

In Sacramento County, the average farmworker earns just $18,750 per year, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Today is also a day to consider community service, as area groups did just that, volunteering throughout the Sacramento region. Sacramento Kings players including Francisco Garcia, Omri Casspi and DeMarcus Cousins celebrated a new track donated to South Sacramento's Will C. Wood Middle School for the community’s use for their annual Chavez volunteer day.

Chavez, like fellow civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., showed that only when we come together can we celebrate our diversity as Americans.

To learn more about Chávez's legacy, you can read the California Department of Education's official biography of Chávez, or visit the United Farm Workers or the César E. Chávez Foundation websites.

Sí, Se Puede!