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Cesar Chavez: The Virgen De Guadalupe

933 Words4 Pages
Cesar Chavez had a great pride towards everything he stood for, whether it was his catholic beliefs or protecting his fellow man from the oppressor. Growing up in America, Cesar Chavez witnessed discrimination from being Mexican first hand. By growing up in a family oriented catholic home, he was raised to care about the well being of others and to approach life in a nonviolent manner. Having a father who was a farmer, he witnessed the poor living conditions and wages that were given to him and knew that something had to be done. Cesar Chavez’s fight for improving working conditions for farmers helped him gather a large following of Mexican Americans. By implementing elements of Catholicism and parts of his Mexican heritage into his rallies using The Virgen de Guadalupe as a symbol for protection, and by protesting through the use of nonviolence and self-sacrifice, Cesar Chavez managed to start a revolution in America to get first class citizenship for Mexican Americans. In order to create a following with the Mexican farm workers, Cesar had to not only fight for the rights of the workers, but he also had to connect with them spiritually. For example, the author writes, “One cannot understand this significant struggle by interpreting it only as a labor one. This was also a spiritual struggle enveloped by Mexican American Catholic beliefs, symbols, and traditions” (Garcia 12). This struggle involved all Mexican Americans and not just farmers and by including religion, it
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