Thread: TX: Che Chavez march - Saul in attendance

20,000 honor Chávez's legacy

Web Posted: 04/01/2007 02:08 AM CDT

Guillermo Contreras
Express-News

That the U.S. Senate failed to pass a resolution Thursday honoring the legacy of labor and civil rights leader César Chávez didn't deter 20,000 people from carrying his message on the streets of San Antonio Saturday.
Immigration took center stage in the 11th annual march honoring the late founder of the United Farm Workers of America as some participants argued Republican senators had mischaracterized Chávez's position on undocumented immigrants. Others criticized a White House immigration proposal leaked to the media last week, while some protested the war in Iraq and called for U.S. troops to be pulled out.


Other issues included a call for raising education rates of Latinos and addressing other matters that affect them. Participants marched 3 miles from the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center to the Alamo. They carried placards with images of Chávez, who died in 1993 at the age of 66, and chanted "¡Si se puede!" (Yes, we can) and other signature slogans to honor him. Organizers said the crowd estimate this year was about the same as last year's record-setting tally.

On Thursday, Democrats in the U.S. Senate introduced a resolution to honor Chávez's achievements and recognize his 80th birthday, which would have been Saturday, but Republicans objected to the language.

Republicans wanted a sentence inserted pointing out that Chávez had spoken out against illegal immigration during the years he led strikes in California for farmworkers' rights, according to a news release issued by the National Council of La Raza and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, two groups that blasted the Republican proposal on Friday.

"He wasn't against them," Chávez's elder sister, Rita Chávez, said in an interview shortly before leading Saturday's march as grand marshal. "He was against what the growers were doing with them."


(Delcia Lopez/Express-News)

Margie Cortez holds hands with other marchers as they chant 'Viva La Raza' along Guadalupe Street during the march Saturday.


Jaime Martinez, chairman of this year's march, added: "Employers wanted to hire undocumented immigrants to break the strikes and the spirit of the people. César Chávez had to make some decisions in his life, but he was not against immigrants. He was for stopping growers from hiring undocumented people to come and break the strikes."

This year's march featured the participation of Saul Arellano, the 8-year-old U.S.-born son of Elvira Arellano, an undocumented worker from Mexico who took sanctuary in a church in Chicago after she was ordered deported following a raid by immigration authorities in 2002. Elvira Arellano, who worked for a contractor cleaning airplanes, has been at the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago for the past seven months and has become a symbol for immigrant advocates who seek an immigration reform package that would keep families together and offer a path to citizenship.

The Associated Press reported last week that the Bush administration floated elements of an immigration plan that would make it harder for undocumented immigrants to gain citizenship than under a Senate plan the previous year. The Bush plan also suggested barring future guest workers that enter the country legally from bringing family members with them. Immigration advocates argue it is very narrow and doesn't address backlogs in immigration applications, makes people compete for permanent residency on a "merit" system that favors the wealthy and well-educated and that it tears families apart.

"There can never be homeland security without family security first," Emma Lozano, a Chicago activist accompanying Saul Arellano, told marchers.

While Chávez's ideology got snubbed in Washington, it didn't in San Antonio. Mayor Phil Hardberger read a proclamation honoring the late civil rights advocate before he and other city leaders began the march.

"He fought for all workers in all countries," Hardberger said. "He really changed the world."

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/ ... 0e1a7.html

"He wasn't against them," Chávez's elder sister, Rita Chávez, said in an interview shortly before leading Saturday's march as grand marshal. "He was against what the growers were doing with them."

Senile?

"There can never be homeland security without family security first," Emma Lozano, a Chicago activist accompanying Saul Arellano, told marchers.

What kind of wack statement is this. Nonsense.

I think Cesar Chaves was a great man but the people that are exploiting his name and legacy for their own agenda are just foul.

Dixie

Pro-illegal activists are rewriting history for their own purpose. Che knew that the continous flood of illegals would destroy america and make it no better than mexico or latin america countries. It is really a shame when something that a person does for good is turned so wrong for illegal purposes.

I haven't had the stomach to read up on "Che"- but didn't he mistreat the Cubans? I've read stories that Cuban Americans are offened by his image, etc. He seems to have become a pop icon for commies and OBLs so I'm glad we aren't recognizing him.