Thread: Students marking Chavez Day learn price of protest

It should have gone this way during the marches in '06 too!
Walkout a civics lesson
Students marking Chavez Day learn price of protest
By Laurel Rosenhall - lrosenhall@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1

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A group of Luther Burbank High School students - including Amanda Barraza, 15, in the Cesar Chavez T-shirt - grasp hands in Cesar Chavez Park in downtown Sacramento on Monday in the face of possible truancy arrests by nearby police officers.
Randy Pench / rpench@sacbee.com


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Students calling for schools to recognize Cesar Chavez's birthday by giving them a day off got an impromptu civics lesson Monday: Civil disobedience has its consequences.

On what would have been the 81st birthday of the leader of the farmworker rights movement, dozens of students from Sacramento schools left their campuses and made their way downtown to Cesar Chavez Park. They were there to express pride in their Latino roots and call for greater recognition of Chavez in the public schools.

"I think it's racist because Martin Luther King got a day. How come Cesar Chavez doesn't get a day?" asked Maria Jimenez, 16, a sophomore at Luther Burbank High School.

She had permission from her mom to leave school after a morning test and attend the event. But many other students had just walked out. They were met by police – in squad cars, on horses and riding bikes – who told the students they were truant.

"You're still in violation of state law," Officer Isaac Knutila told a small group gathered in the park. "You gotta get back to school."

Lt. Don Rehm said his officers picked up about 35 Hiram Johnson students as they marched to the park. They were taken to Sacramento City Unified School District's truancy center, he said.

Monday was a holiday for state workers and some local governments. But schools across the region were in session.

That's something activists are trying to change.

A group called By Any Means Necessary organized student protests across California on Monday, saying schools aren't doing enough to honor Chavez. Yvette Felarca, the organization's Northern California coordinator, said schools should close for Chavez's birthday and teach lessons about him in preceding days.

"Until this holiday is fully won and recognized the way it needs to be, this is going to continue," she said. "We're not going to accept second-class treatment."

Educators responded by saying the best way to honor Chavez is to stay in school. Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of schools, said he knew Chavez well. They were friends and political allies until Chavez's death in 1993.

"We want students to study his life, understand his belief system. He was a great American," O'Connell said. "But he would want students in school preparing for their future."

He urged schools to use curriculum the state has developed to teach about Chavez, who is considered the country's most prominent Latino civil rights leader. Chavez fought for better conditions for farmworkers, led a massive grape boycott in the 1960s and formed the United Farm Workers union.

"This is a teachable moment and a moment to learn more about Chavez," O'Connell said.

Students at Luther Burbank honored Chavez on Monday with a special event in the quad at lunchtime, said principal Ted Appel. There were speeches, Mexican music and posters with Chavez quotes decorating campus. Throughout the academic year, the school offers Latino leadership classes where students learn about Latin American history, Spanish classes designed for native Spanish speakers and after-school clubs especially for Latinas and Latinos.

Absenteeism was not especially high on Monday, Appel said.

"I think there are a lot of things happening in the school that are increasingly engaging Latino students in their own education and helping them to be active in the community," he said. "The result of that is that fewer students feel like it is valuable to simply walk out."

Some of those who had walked out changed their mind after the conversation in the park with Officer Knutila.

"I'm going back," Guadalupe Ramos, 15, told her friends as she left the park heading for school.

"I can't go to the truancy center again."

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/826349.html

There are many people more deserving than Chavez for honoring, IMO.

Consider how many people lose their jobs to technological advance:
1. Bank tellers have lost out to ATM machines
2. Ticket sellers have lost out to automatic ticket machines
3. Gas station attendants have lost out to self service stations
I could go on and on.

The United Farmworkers were going to lose out to agricultural mechanization, and therefore sued UC at Davis and halted their agricultural technology programs. Now American farmers, who have regularly fed the hungry of this world, are losing out to foreign competition.

Thank you Mr Chavez.

Lt. Don Rehm said his officers picked up about 35 Hiram Johnson students as they marched to the park. They were taken to Sacramento City Unified School District's truancy center, he said.

They should have checked their immigration status and turned them over to ICE if determined to be in this country illegally.

Some of those who had walked out changed their mind after the conversation in the park with Officer Knutila.

"I'm going back," Guadalupe Ramos, 15, told her friends as she left the park heading for school.

"I can't go to the truancy center again."




Oh, so she's been truant before has she? How many times? Apparently enough to make her think twice.

Or, was she just not anxious to come into contact with the police who just might discover the legal status of her family?

Good to see our tax dollars being spent on such a shining example of a student

These kids are so ignorant and so are their parents. Chavez would not consider delinquent students who have less than a 50% graduation rate, "honoring" him by being truant, a good thing. That's the last thing these vapid little reconquistas need to do....their lot in life or position in society won't get any better if they don't graduate, go to college and live a decent, lawful life.

Again, no mention that Chavez was against illegal workers.

Originally Posted by cvangel

"I think it's racist because Martin Luther King got a day. How come Cesar Chavez doesn't get a day?" asked Maria Jimenez, 16, a sophomore at Luther Burbank High School.

I think it's racist that White construction workers lose their jobs to illegal Mexican workers.

When can we have a "job loss due to government corruption day"?

These ILLEGALS are much different from past Legal Immigrants’, they do not want to be Part of the United States they want to take over the United States for a Foreign Power(Third World Country) under that Government's direction and assisted by United States Citizens of the same heritage as this Third World Country not to mention our elitist politicians and their elitist contributors.

Educators responded by saying the best way to honor Chavez is to stay in school. Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of schools, said he knew Chavez well. They were friends and political allies until Chavez's death in 1993.

Agreed, Mr Chavez would not have condoned this I'm sure.