by Tom DeWeese, American Policy Center, ©2021
(Jan. 28, 2021) — On the first day of his occupation of the White House Oval Office, it was reported that Joe Biden quickly removed the bust of Winston Churchill and replaced it with one of Cesar Chavez. This move is supposed to demonstrate Biden’s support for the working man.
Cesar Chavez has been portrayed to the American public as a hero and champion of poor Hispanic migrant workers who, it was claimed, were paid mere pennies to work in the grape and lettuce fields of California. According to the tale, the farmers got rich off the backs of the migrant labor, selling the lettuce and making expensive wines from the grapes. Meanwhile the poor, misused migrants carried meager belongings on their backs and traveled from farm to farm, hoping to find work, perhaps a meal, and a place to sleep. Even little children were forced to work in the fields – just to keep the family alive. So goes the tale.
Into the breach of this John Steinbeck vision of misery steps one of the workers who braved the wrath of the “MAN.” Cesar Chavez, so the tale continues, stood bravely against threats of bodily harm, maybe even death, to help bring the poor migrant workers a decent wage and stable working conditions. To stand as their champion, he created the United Farm Workers Union (UFW), organized protests, set up picket lines, and staged fasts to get the media’s attention. His minions took on the battle cry “Huelga” (strike) and called on all Americans to boycott “non-union” lettuce and wines.
In an era of unrest and college protests, students across the nation took up the battle cry and participated in the boycotts. It became fashionable for liberal leaders to stand with Chavez. California Governor Jerry Brown (the first term) joined Chavez and all the usual Hollywood celebrities in protest marches in Sacramento. Bobby Kennedy flew in to embrace him for the cameras during his fasts.
And now, Chavez is forced again into the nation’s reconstructed memory through Biden’s dramatic flair, putting Chavez’ image right there behind the Resolute desk of the President of the United States as an American hero.
Well, here are facts about Cesar Chavez that you will never read in a school text book or current history book:
- There is no evidence that Cesar Chavez ever worked in a farm field in his life. He was a pool room thug selected and hand picket by radical communist organizer Saul Alinsky to create unrest among farm workers.
Chavez was well trained in the Alinsky propaganda and organizing techniques that are, still today, recognized as the most effective tools to misdirect and force radical ideas into the general population.
- Cesar Chavez never tried to organize real migrant workers – those who had no real home, who carried their belongings on their backs and were basically nomads on the road.
For the most part, the workers which Chavez picked on were not migrants, instead, lived in nice homes, in stable neighborhoods and made a decent wage. The only migration they did was to move from farm to farm in their area to harvest the crops. It provided them steady work with farmers who regularly employed them. At night, they slept in their own beds.
- Chavez never organized “non-union” workers. Most were already members of the Teamster’s Union. What Chavez sold to the nation as a fight against “non-union” lettuce and grapes was really a jurisdictional fight against the Teamsters. Pretty hard to call the Teamsters “non-union.”
And so, for more than ten years, Cesar Chavez used the media, politicians, Hollywood, and college students to change the buying habits of the nation and paint a picture of big business oppressing the poor.
In 1974, when I served as Ohio Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), I was also running for a seat in the Ohio legislature. My district was a small slice of Columbus that included the Ohio State University. My opponent was a dedicated left wing radical. The district contained no farm land other than the agriculture department of the university. Yet, the main issue of our campaign became the debate over Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.
In March of that year, Chavez came to the OSU campus. My opponent in the legislative race, Representative Mike Stinziano, was a major supporter of Chavez and, consequently, seated next to Chavez on the stage. Before the program began, I was out front of the auditorium manning a picket line and protest. Eventually, as Chavez prepared to speak, I and my fellow picketers marched inside the auditorium, straight down the aisle and sat on the edge of the stage. Rep. Stinziano and I eyed each other in this strange setting for a political campaign.
Chavez began to speak to the wide-eyed college students, teaching them organizing songs and getting them to shout “Huelga.” Then Chavez began to spin a tale of the terrible conditions of the poor non-union workers as they suffered in the fields. Paul Bunyan would have been impressed. He told the students that to get around paying for his unionized workers, the cheapskate farmers had developed a device to mechanically harvest the grapes. He said it was a huge vacuum designed to suck the grapes off the vine. But, said Chavez in a hushed tone, the machine also sucked up spiders, snakes and rabbits, all to be processed into the wine. As the crowd began to stir and make faces at the thought of it, Chavez quickly added, “So, if you won’t boycott Boones Farm wine for our cause, at least do it for your own health.” That was Cesar for you… always concerned about the well being of others!
Two months later I was invited to Toledo University by the local YAF chapter there to provide rebuttal to a separate appearance by Delores Huerta, Vice President of the United Farm Workers Union.
Read the rest here.
Glad you mentioned Saul Alinsky. His book “Rules for Radicals” and another book, The Cloward-Piven Strategy have been, and still are being used as guides to destroy America. It would help if Americans. most of whom have likely never heard of either, would spend some time learning about both. Understanding the tactics of ones enemies can go a long way towards defeating them. Francis Piven of the Cloward-Piven Strategy, which is definitely in full use today, is still alive and enjoying watching the success of her instructions and advice. Saul Alinsky and his tactics never stop being used and are proven to be effective, again and again. The main stream media is especially good with Alinsky tactics…………………….
The last time I looked the reviews for both books were good, not necessarily because people like what the books are being used for, but because their effectiveness has been proven….many times, over years of use.
What is happening to America today did not just happen, it is part of a well planned and carried out take-over of America from the inside.
Knowing the enemy can be a big step toward understanding and defeating them.
Cesar Chavez, hero of the Left, fought against illegal immigration. He opposed the Bracero Program, which legally imported cheap Mexico labor into the country at the expense of the United Farm Workers (UFW), who had been working in those fields for decades.
Congress ended the Bracero Program in 1964, and the next few years were good ones for the UFW farmworkers, until illegal immigration became so prevalent that the union lost bargaining power with the farmers.
In 1969, Chavez marched his UFW to the Mexican border to protest the farmers use of illegal aliens as strikebreakers against his union.
In the mid-1970s, Chavez organized the “Illegals Campaign” to identify and report illegal workers to the Border Patrol. An effort he regarded as second only in importance to the boycotts. He stated, “If we can get the illegals out of California, we will win the strike…”
But, the “Illegals Campaign” did not just report illegals to the feds. Chavez sent ex-felon Manuel Chavez, to the border to set up a “wet line” to do the job the Border Patrol was not doing. Housed in tents along the border, the UFW crews would beat-up illegals trying to cross.
Next he’ll have a bust of Che Guevara and Hunter Biden will gain lawful employment selling ‘T’ shirts – made in China — imprinted with Che’s face through the white house fence.