Students Walk Out, Demand Statewide Cesar Chavez Holiday
Middle and high school students in several East Los Angeles school districts have walked out of school today, calling for Cesar Chavez Day to be declared an official state holiday.
Click here for the full story.
While I can’t agree with the school walk-out, frankly because they need to be in school learning, I can see their point of wanting Cesar Chavez Day to be a holiday. Cesar Chavez was to the Mexican-Americans what Martin Luther King, Jr. was to the African-Americans. He was a great civil rights leader.
According to this article on Wikipedia, Cesar Chavez did much to aid the Mexican-American farm workers. He is responsible for the organization of the United Farm Workers, he urged Mexican-Americans to register and vote, and he even protested against illegal immigration.
In 1969, Chávez and members of the UFW marched through the Imperial and Coachella Valleys to the border of Mexico to protest growers’ use of illegal aliens as temporary replacement workers during a strike. Joining him on the march were both Reverend Ralph Abernathy and U.S. Senator Walter Mondale. Chávez and the UFW would often report suspected illegal aliens who served as temporary replacement workers as well as those who refused to unionize to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
So if kids can get out of school for Martin Luther King, Jr. day, why not Cesar Chavez day?
Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
