Chávez, César (1927–1993)

Cesário Estrada Chávez, cofounder of the United Farmworkers Union, is one of the most successful 20th-century labor organizers the Western hemisphere has known. Chávez was born March 31, 1927, on his family farm near Yuma, Arizona. For the first decade of his life, Chávez grew up in an adobe structure on the farm that his grandfather had homesteaded in the late 19th century. In 1937, as the result of depression-era economics, as well as drought and Anglo-American swindling, the Chávez family was forced from the farm and entered the “migrant stream.” As a result of his new migratory lived experiences, Chávez quit school in 1942 following the eighth grade. He subsequently labored full-time in the field to supplement his family income. Although Chávez's narrative is not significantly unique, as many ethnic Mexicans endured similar racist and classist incidents, his resiliency and subsequent labor organizing mark him as one of the most significant figures of the organized labor movement.

Following their eviction from their familial lands, Chávez established permanent roots in the San José barrio Sal Si Puedes (translating as “Get Out If You Can”) and traveled the San Joaquin migrant cycle. At age 17, looking for an alternative to his laborious circumstances, Chávez enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Although instilling a sense of “discipline” in Chávez, the events that transpired in the armed forces simply replicated those he experienced in civilian life. In fact, within both military and civil society, Chávez was expelled from restaurants and movie theaters for attempting to integrate into whites-only sections. In response to his horrific, albeit common, experiences as a racialized Mexican in the United States, Chávez undertook a life of radical civil service and union organizing.

Upon an honorable discharge from the navy, Chávez married Helen Fabela in 1948. Although only 21, the couple had already known each other for 5 years, meeting at a Mexicano/a maltshop, La Baratita, in Delano, California. Much like Chávez, Fabela also traveled the migrant circuit with her family and was required to renounce formal education to [Page 305]economically assist her family. Together, Chávez and Fabela would have eight children.

One of the most significant events in Chávez's life occurred in 1952, when he met Fred Ross, an organizer with the Community Service Organization (CSO). The CSO was an association formed in Los Angeles to give Mexican Americans a political voice through voting. As a CSO organizer, Ross worked throughout southern California organizing Chicanos/as in their struggle for environmental and economic justice. Attempting to organize Chicanos/as in the San José area, Ross was directed to Chávez by a local priest. Following an apprehensive first meeting, Chávez volunteered for a CSO voter registration drive in East San José; Ross quickly became Chávez's friend and chief mentor. Working closely with Ross, Chávez organized more than 20 CSO chapters across California. Under the direction of Chávez, CSO enabled ethnic Mexicans access to their full rights as U.S. citizens, by way of voter registration drives, fighting police brutality, and improving public services in the barrio. Although initially Chávez worked as a volunteer for the CSO, he was hired full-time when Ross received money from Chicago-based radical organizer Saul Alinsky.

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