The Overlooked Half of the Farm Workers’ Triumph

In 20th-century Western society, our God, heroes and prophets were men. So were our union leaders. The Industrial Revolution accelerated an unprecedented demand for production, enriching those holding the purse strings at the expense of workers’ quality of life. It was inevitable that the need to organize workers should come about, and that in order to succeed, it had to take on the characteristics of a civilian army, especially when its members were forced to fight an opposition with such enormous power and resources that it would stop at nothing, not even murder, to quash their demands for improved living conditions.

In light of this history, it wasn’t unusual that it was a man who was given the leadership to start the United Farm Workers Union in the 1960s. I say “given,” because a majority of the thousands involved in organizing the UFW chose Cesar Chavez as their main speaker and decision maker. This month, the fourth anniversary of his death, Chavez is again celebrated, in a new book and a PBS program, and is continually recalled in the UFW’s current campaign to organize California’s strawberry workers. But he was not alone.

Leaders such as Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, leaders of people of color and the poor, were not only needed but also demanded, formed, even invented to fill a vacuum: We were celebrating 200 years as a democracy and had yet to fulfill the Constitution’s promise of equal rights to all citizens. These leaders, without exception male, perhaps with good reason or perhaps because of the passion of the times, were often exalted to iconic status. Why not? I’d prefer to honor the likes of any of them, their shortcomings and shortsightedness notwithstanding, than the sports stars and performing artists who are so exalted now, when social conditions are, overall, worsening.

A major characteristic distinguishing Chavez from the kind of reputation that butt-busting union leaders are known for is that he followed the pacific doctrines of Jesus, as well as the writings of Mahatma Gandhi. These role models inspired and guided him during difficult moments in the union’s early battles--competing with the clout-wielding Teamsters and combating self-interested growers and an antagonistic government.

But Chavez’s first model for pacifism appears to have been his mother. And while Chavez was taking care of the overwhelming demands of union organizing, it was his wife who bore the brunt of raising their eight children and maintaining their home. Still further evidence of the indispensability of a woman’s presence before and behind him, from the beginning until today is that Chavez’s right-hand man was--is--a woman.

Dolores Huerta, daughter of a single mother and who credits her mother for giving her the confidence to do what needs to be done without hesitation, gave up her teaching profession to join Chavez in forming the UFW. While Chavez had a wife to tend to the needs of his large family, Dolores Huerta raised no fewer than 11 children.

I met Chavez in 1975 at a rally in Napa, Calif. I was so moved by his legendary leadership that I wrote a poem about the farm workers that night. But it wasn’t until 1987 that I met the renowned second-person-in-command, Dolores Huerta, at a Chicana conference. In order to attend, I, as a single mother, had with me my 4-year-old son, who kept me on my toes during Huerta’s panel. She immediately took notice and announced how much it reminded her of having her own children with her at meetings because, what choice do we usually have as mothers?

I did not write a poem for Huerta that night, but I did send her some of my books. It had come to my attention that the only feminists she was familiar with were gringas. And while I still hold her in the highest regard for her courage, wisdom and perseverance in giving a lifetime to negotiating with what I can only imagine to be an immeasurably intimidating opposition, she maintains certain traditional views as a woman, which Mexican and Mexican American women have only begun to analyze and discuss in recent times.

Given her generation and the world of union organizing, it is not an unusual view for a woman to accept with great modesty that she is second in command--if at all permitted in the game. Countless women like Helen Chavez and Dolores Huerta bore the double burden of giving endless time and energy to the organization while being the primary caretakers of their children and homemakers. In addition to this (as if this were not enough!), these women went out to work--in the fields--to support their children. When they were not able to juggle all these demands on their time to their husbands’ satisfaction, many marriages, not surprisingly, broke up.

A woman faced with multiple demands does not stop being a mother, carrying on the duties of motherhood, providing for and protecting her children. Paul Chavez, Chavez’ son, credits his mother for this. Chavez’ daughter, wife of the present UFW president, remembers her father being away most of the time.

Gods are often remote. Heroes in their quest for the answer to life’s meaning go away, begin a lifelong journey frought with all manner of adventure, enemies and challenges to test their courage and intelligence. They leave the mother who has nurtured them, given them the basic equipment to set out on such monumental sojourns. And they always return to mother. Even if only at the hour of their death.

Dolores Huerta was never known to have fasted in order to win a UFW contract, but a few years ago, while participating in a protest, she was beaten and nearly died at the hands of San Francisco police. After recovering, she continued with the struggles of the UFW. Should we not stand before her in awe for being prepared to give her life to improve the lives of so many others, for her indomitable fearlessness and ceaseless, selfless commitment to the greater good? Or are those just the sacrifices women are expected to make, being worker bees and not anointed for glory?

Not for a second would I criticize the motivations and accomplishments of Chavez, the man and the leader. I am of the school of thought that honors elders, to learn from those who came before us. I believe that, in order to criticize, I must first be prepared to do better than what I judge. But I am also a woman. And given the legacy of male leaders, models, heroes and gods, I also see that woman, at the brink of a new millennium, is long overdue her place alongside her male counterpart. And her male counterpart, whether God or a very human man, while on his way to greatness, maybe as part of a requisite for achieving greatness (since he himself did not really issue humanity from his groin), needs to stay home, now and then, to at least wash out some diapers. For starters.