Who Is Cesar Chavez Address The Commonwealth Club Of California

On November 9, 1984, many people gathered with Cesar Chavez in San Francisco, California as he addressed the Commonwealth Club of California. The Commonwealth Club of California is a non-profit organization and the nation’s oldest public affairs forum that puts together events dealing with politics, culture, society, and the economy. Cesar Chavez was a remarkable union leader, labor organizer, and civil rights advocate who was known for dedicating his life to helping others, particularly farm workers. Chavez’s main concern in addressing the Commonwealth Club of California was the treatment of farm workers. He spoke against the injustices they endured related to labor and living conditions. Being that the speech was addressed to a public affairs

In addition to building credibility, ethos represents an ethical appeal and is used to increase the effectiveness of an argument. In this case, Chavez mainly uses ethos to persuade his audience by speaking on his own experience as a Mexican-American farm worker. For example, he says, “My motivation comes from my personal life—from watching what my mother and father went through when I was growing up; from what we experienced as migrant farm workers in California.” This statement builds credibility by allowing the audience to understand where Chavez’s righteousness and drive to inspire change comes from. In a few sentences later, Chavez goes into further details with his experience by saying, “It grew from the frustration and humiliation I felt as a boy who couldn’t understand how the growers could abuse and exploit farm workers when there were so many of us and so few of them.” Not only does this statement create more understanding about his drive for change but, it gives more insight on how he felt as a child by saying “as a boy.” Stating that his ambition grew from the frustration and humiliation as a child allows the audience to trust him because he experienced the same injustices he wished to change. In addition to speaking on his feelings of his experience, Chavez builds his own credibility by speaking as the President of the United Farm Workers organization. Gaining the audience’s trust helps build on the credibility of Chavez’s speech which pertains to the use of