Cesar Chavez was a unionist and civil rights activist during the 20th century in the United States. Like Dr.King, Chavez used peaceful and non-violent methods to try and succeed in his aims. As a Mexican American himself, he tried in particular to help the plight of these people.

Chavez began as a farm worker but quickly got involved in the unions. As a unionist leader, Chavez fought for better rights for workers such as higher wages and better working conditions. To do this he organized the boycott of certain products. The Delano Grape Strike, which he helped organize, boycotted table grapes for over 5 years as well as organizing protest marches. This brought national attention as well as support from Robert F. Kennedy. Chavez was successful in his aims and gained better wages for many farm workers.

Equally important to Chavez, was civil rights for Latinos. Chavez realized that is was important to restrict immigration to the United States so that the Latinos in the US would be able to get the rights they deserved. As many illegal immigrants were in the United States willing to work for cheap, this lowered the wages of legal workers and would cause them to lose their job. This undermined the efforts of the unions. Chavez encouraged the importance of immigrants registering themselves so that they could vote and remain legally in the country. In an era of great change in America, Chavez was a true hero of the time period.

Submitted by: James Renton