Mexican-American Farm Workers

A boycott on grape growers that exploited Mexican-American workers began very innocently, but quickly spread across the country.

Farm owners’ work requirements were disproportional in compare to the offered wages. Moreover, the exploitation was possible due to scarcity of alternative work for Mexican-American farm workers. The consequences of the exploitation impacted in a negative way on the farm workers entire families. The employees, due to the lack of alternative, worked under conditions which offended humanity. They were deprived of dignity, worked in harmful conditions ( long hours in a sun, exposed to poisoned pesticides), and deprived of education were “trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty” (The struggle in the Fields).

Moreover, the owners (in minority), being in a position of power, oppressed, controlled and humiliated the less powerful massive group of Mexican immigrants to achieve their profits. The farm workers were subjected to ideological justification based only on their jobs and social status, and seen as “ arrogant, stupid, lazy and dirty” and in consequence poor people(The Struggle in the Field).

Cesar Chavez, involved in the struggle for the rights of farm workers, reminded the public the difficulties the farm workers had to contend working on the plantations, and tried to persuade consumers to express their support by the boycott of grapes’ purchases. It was a challenge for the powerful agricultural enterprises because the boycott actually had an impact on trade