LULAC Says Cesar Chavez Day Is Especially Significant In 2021
Nation’s Oldest and Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Marks Birthday with Renewed Pledge to Farmworkers During COVID-19
Washington, DC - The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) today issued the following statement on the birthdate of Cesar Chavez, March 31, 1927:
Domingo Garcia - LULAC National President
“I marched and picketed with Cesar and am a former farmworker. This is why, I feel strongly about the injustice that millions of farmworkers still face while harvesting our food in the fields every day. If anything, the pandemic has exposed again the shameful mistreatment of those who worked stooped over from sunrise to sunset picking our nation’s crops. For many Americans, and elected officials, these men and women remain faceless, unimportant figures who somehow are not worthy of the same rights as everyone else. However they are just as essential as our health care workers. Cesar never earned more than $6,000 a year during his lifetime of fighting for farmworkers but he earned our lasting respect and honor as an example of what it means to be a leader for the oppressed. On this day, let’s pause and remind ourselves and others how we can help more in doing the work of defending those who can’t defend themselves. Feliz cumpleaños compa!”
Sindy Benavides - LULAC National Chief Executive Officer
“I wonder what Cesar would have said and done if he was alive to see that nearly half a million farmworkers in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic according to Purdue University and many experts believe even that number underestimates how the virus has impacted a very important labor force critical to feeding America. To us at LULAC, these are not just statistics. Rather, they’re lives and families being hit hard by the very conditions Cesar devoted his life to combatting. Imagine how a half century later, we are still advocating for farmworkers to have full access to quality health care such as getting the vaccine. Also, that we are still confronting situations where workers are forced to go to work sick or they can’t feed their own families. I consider it our privilege to continue Cesar’s fight for human and civil rights. Yes, one day we will celebrate the full realization of the victories he sought to achieve. Until then, we fight on!”
###
About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit https://lulac.org/