A Real Life Hero: Cesar Estrada Chávez (1927 - 2003)
Cesar Estrada Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona in 1927. During the depression era, his family was abused and obligated to sell their farm and leave. His family moved to Sacramento, California and Mr. Chavez grew up there. In 1962 he started his activist movement against racism and financial injustices. He founded the National Farm Workers Association. Since then, he fought for farm workers’ rights. He demanded better conditions for those workers, mostly composed by Hispanic immigrants. After many years, his hard work became a reality; many states modified their laws obligating farm employers to provide benefits such as medical coverage, retirement plans, and fair wages without discriminating the employees because of its ethnicity.
Nowadays, Mr. Chavez has become an icon within the Hispanic community in the United States because according to Ray Browne (2005). “An icon symbolizes what hard work can accomplish”. (pp.54). Also, he represents a change in history and a change for Hispanic families towards the American Dream. According to Ray Browne (1983), “Heroes represents the consensus of the dreams, fantasies, self evaluations, and needs of individuals and of society itself” (pp.16). That is why Mr. Chavez is a hero.
References:
Ray Browne. (2005). Hero with 2000 faces. In R. Browne. Profiles of popular culture (pp. 16- 23) Madison, Wisconsin
Ray Browne. (2005). Hero with 2000 faces. In R. Browne. Profiles of popular culture (pp. 54-55) Madison, Wisconsin
Sylvia Cochran. (2008). Hero Cesar Chavez. Civil right site. Retrieved on December 1, 2008, from, http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32934.asp
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