Cesar Chavez Speech On Migrant Workers

For decades, migrant workers have been the backbone of our country. In the past century, America has grown into a flourishing country. There have been many groundbreaking events that have taken place. Women's rights have drastically changed throughout the years and the barrier of segregation has been torn down. But for years agricultural industries have been known to neglect and abuse their workers. In the early 1900’s being a person of color or another race was known as being an open target for discrimination abuse and racism, especially if one worked in the agricultural business. Agricultural industries actively discriminated against farm workers who they themselves benefit from. These industries do not care about their employees' health

One reason why agriculture industries have discriminated against their farm workers is that they do not prioritize the health of their workers. Cesar Chavez, an American labor leader and civil rights activist brought attention to the health of field workers. He made major points that were made were the conditions that these migrant workers worked in, health issues while producing, and discrimination against migrant workers by higher-ups and US citizens. There have been many people who have been affected, Mexican migrant workers, Filipino migrant workers, migrant workers' kids, and so on. In Cesar Chavez’s speech, Lessons on Dr. Martin Luther Kings Jr he talks about how farm workers' children were dying of cancer. The Central Valley of California is known to be one of the wealthiest agricultural regions in the world. Decades ago the chemical industries promised that pesticides would benefit fields and harvest. But recently a five-year study conducted by the National Academy showed that pesticides do not in fact provide profit or improve growth in crops. Chavez goes on to talk about how fields are sprayed with Captan, Parathion,

The article We Ask not for Mercy, but for Justice: The Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers’ Union and Filipino Civil Rights in the United States, 1927-1937 by Stephanie Hinnershitz states how Filipino workers show cannery employees were heavily mistreated by their contractors by giving them the bare minimum. Filipinos and other Asian workers were fed leftovers from the food of the white employees and contractors. “Torres described the ways in which Filipino and other Asian employees suffered the most on the trips to Alaska as they were the ones crammed and squeezed into the steerage and lower decks and given the left-over food after the white employees and contractors were finished eating''(Hinnershitz). These workers would experience discrimination by the workers mentioned in articles and newspapers which brought the attention of forming a union called the Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers’ Union (CWFLU). They were not just fighting for their independence they were also fighting for a very important objective and they were fully devoted to bettering the lives of others and themselves while living in the United States. The union was formed for it to be a safe place for the Filipino workers that had to speak out about racism and this union throughout history symbolized how the workers struggled by doing their job in the United States. This labor union shows examples of the way Filipinos endured racism,