Thread: LA Students Win César Chávez Holiday!

MARCH 27, 2009

LA Students Win César Chávez Holiday!
Big Step for getting holiday actually honored throughout California, and for winning national holiday


After 2 years of petitioning, walking out, and marching, LA students have won the César Chávez Holiday in LAUSD! This is a big step forward for getting California's Chávez Holiday—which is state law—actually honored throughout the state and for making Chávez's Birthday a national holiday!

See reports from past César Chávez days of action: http://www.bamn.com/chavezday/mar30-2007.asp

http://www.bamn.com/news/index.asp

Brilliant! All this from a school district with a budget the size of some small nations, and a graduation rate of around 50%!

The LAUSD is simply a microcosm of California and the abysmal failure both have become.

Cesar Chavez was a union leader for American farm workers. He was also a 3rd generation US citizen born in Arizona in 1927, a US Navy Veteran, and hated illegal immigration for all the reasons too obvious to mention.

How are American farm workers doing these days?!! Aren't the better conditions he worked so hard for still being undercut by illegal aliens?

We should do a PR piece on that fact and inform Americans about who Cesar Chavez really was and what the really stood for and fought against.

Cesar Chavez was a third generation American. He stood for better wages and working conditions for the American Farm Worker. He fought against the forces that threaten the wages and working conditions of the American Worker including specifically, illegal immigration.

He even testified before Congress against illegal immigration in 1979:

"In 1979 testimony to Congress, Chavez complained, "... when the farm workers strike and their strike is successful, the employers go to Mexico and have unlimited, unrestricted use of illegal alien strikebreakers to break the strike. And, for over 30 years, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has looked the other way and assisted in the strikebreaking. I do not remember one single instance in 30 years where the Immigration service has removed strikebreakers. ... The employers use professional smugglers to recruit and transport human contraband across the Mexican border for the specific act of strikebreaking...""

"In 1969, Chavez actually led a march to the Mexican border to protest illegal immigration, accompanied by Sen. Walter Mondale and Ralph Abernathy, whom alert readers will recognize as Martin Luther King's successor as head of the Southern Leadership Conference.

"Chavez demanded that the federal government close the border, routinely reported suspected illegal immigrants to immigration officials, and put his brother in charge of Minutemen-like border patrols which on more than one occasion resulted in the beatings of intruders."

http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/fischer/070322

This action of letting students take another holiday to celebrate a man they don't even know anything about to empower the forces for illegal immigration that he spent his whole adult life fighting against just shows how deeply, widely and sadly, our education system is failing our kids.



"Growers fought back by busing the reserve army up from Mexico. In 1979, Chavez bitterly testified to Congress:

"… when the farm workers strike and their strike is successful, the employers go to Mexico and have unlimited, unrestricted use of illegal alien strikebreakers to break the strike. And, for over 30 years, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has looked the other way and assisted in the strikebreaking. I do not remember one single instance in 30 years where the Immigration service has removed strikebreakers. … The employers use professional smugglers to recruit and transport human contraband across the Mexican border for the specific act of strikebreaking…

"In 1969, Chavez led a march to the Mexican border to protest illegal immigration. Joining him were Sen. Walter Mondale and Martin Luther King’s successor as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Ralph Abernathy.

"The UFW picketed INS offices to demand closure of the border. Chavez also finked on illegal alien scabs to la migra. Columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. reported in the Arizona Republic, “Cesar Chavez, a labor leader intent on protecting union membership, was as effective a surrogate for the INS as ever existed. Indeed, Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union he headed routinely reported, to the INS, for deportation, suspected illegal immigrants who served as strikebreakers or refused to unionize.â€

Your right Judy! Cesar Chavez detested illegal immigration because he understood the economic realities of illegal immigration and it's detrimental influence of supressing wages for those legal, migrant farm workers.

Sadly, these young activists within the LAUSD (who likely have not been taught any of this, or have rejected this fact outright) are all too willing to exploit the name Cesar Chavez to further their own agenda.

Originally Posted by NoBueno

Your right Judy! Cesar Chavez detested illegal immigration because he understood the economic realities of illegal immigration and it's detrimental influence of supressing wages for those legal, migrant farm workers.

Sadly, these young activists within the LAUSD (who likely have not been taught any of this, or have rejected this fact outright) are all too willing to exploit the name Cesar Chavez to further their own agenda.

Exactly. Send the illegal alien students home, and we'll spend the money to educate our own kids about who Cesar Chavez really was, a great third generation American who stood up for American Workers, not illegal aliens.

I emailed this BAMN organization yesterday:

On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 4:14 PM, conjured one wrote:

Dear BAMN,

"LA Students Win César Chávez Holiday!" Oh, now that's rich. So many of your illegal aliens fought for and won a holiday for a man who despised illegal aliens and illegal immigration. Well done!

Apparently you are unclear about Cesar Chavez's roll in immigration. Chavez was an advocate for migrant farmers rights and was a proponent against illegal aliens - from all walks of life.

Here's some background on the man your confused immigrants and illegal aliens hold so dear.

Cesar Chavez was a third generation American. He stood for better wages and working conditions for the American Farm Worker. He fought against the forces that threaten the wages and working conditions of the American Worker including specifically, illegal immigration.

Maybe you could do a PR piece on that fact and inform Americans and illegal aliens alike, who Cesar Chavez really was and what he really stood for and fought against.

Bravo BAMN for being part of this. Chavez would roll over in his grave for what you have done.

Sincerely,

Steph R

This is the answer I got back last night:

Thursday, April 9, 2009 9:01 AM

From: This sender is DomainKeys verified"BAMN BAMN" <lettersatbamn@gmail.com>
To: "conjured one" <conjured_1@yahoo.com>

BAMN is aware that Chavez held positions that we would not agree with and did not organize undocumented workers. However, he is a symbol of Latino/a struggle, and the fight for this holiday was like the fight for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday for black Americans - forcing recognition of the power and importance of Latinos in America. The Cesar Chavez holiday was already legally on the books in CA - but was not being recognized. The student struggle to force LAUSD to recognize this holiday in the schools was a fight for respect for who they are. Many of the students who made this fight are undocumented, and are well aware of Chavez's shortcomings as a leader.

So, they know that Chavez was against what they stand for, they think he had short-comings as a leader, but they're going to hold him up as a symbol for Latino/a illegal alien rights? And the pro-illegal alien Latino/a rights people wonder why we think they are idiots? Any form of corruption is okay as long as it futhers the cause. I'd like to say I find this unbelievable, but the truth is this is exactly the kind of behavior I've come to expect from these groups.