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February 8, 2008 > News > Civil rights leader Huerta emphasizes importance of political action

Civil rights leader Huerta emphasizes importance of political action

By Lily Chun | Thresher Editorial Staff

Before civil rights leader Dolores Huerta went up to make her speech, English professor Jose Aranda introduced her as a “troublemaker,” but it was hard to believe that a short, 78-year-old woman with 11 children proclaims to be the most-jailed person in the United States.

Huerta, the cofounder of the United Farm Workers of America, who worked with Cesar Chavez during the Chicano movement in 1960s, spoke Wednesday at Duncan Hall’s McMurtry Auditorium. Her speech focused on civil rights, current issues involving farm workers and how students can help them.

Huerta urged students to support farm workers by voting for legislation and candidates who would help create change. Unions and organizations left out farm workers in the past because they were mostly comprised of ethnic and racial minorities, Huerta said. Before the UFW, farm workers did not even have access to drinking water or toilets in the fields.

“When people aren’t treated right, it’s a disservice to the whole nation,” Huerta said.

Huerta said farm workers built the country and helped the rich become wealthy.

“It’s the people that work with their hands that create the wealth,” Huerta said.

She said most college students — who will likely obtain high-paying, powerful jobs — must in turn help farm workers in any way possible, including through monetary means.

“No matter how much money you make — even if it’s a million dollars — you only eat three meals a day; you only wear one suit a day,” Huerta said.

Huerta said the plight of the farm worker was unjust when compared to that of the businessmen because wealthy chief executive officers received money for being fired, whereas farm workers are receiving minimum wage without benefits for hours of hard work.

“When you read the newspaper, look at the business section — I call that the crime report,” Huerta said. “It is wrong when you have people making obscene amounts of money.”

Huerta said it was important to get rid of the Right-to-Work Act in Texas, originally enacted in 1993. The act states that workers do not have to join a union if they choose not to. If a union goes on strike, companies can hire people to take the place of workers on strike, effectively weakening labor unions. Huerta said this was the difference between states like California and New York, where all workers are part of a union, compared to Texas, where few workers join unions.

Huerta also talked about women’s rights. She said women — especially those of color — are taught to keep their place socially and thus are trivialized because they are told from a young age that men will always be around to protect them.

“In real life, Walt Disney comes around and tells you Prince Charming will come around and wake you up with a kiss, and you’ll get married and have kids, and then what happens?” Huerta said. “He’ll leave you for a trophy wife.”

Huerta urged women to be tough and become involved in the important decisions in the world.

Huerta said sexism and racism must change on a personal and universal level. Undocumented immigrants and homosexuals are currently the political scapegoats, Huerta said.

“If Thelma and Louise get married, does that affect your paycheck?” Huerta said.

Huerta said it was important to respect other peoples’ rights. She pointed out that the United States was once the province of Native Americans, and that many Mexicans have Native American ancestry, even though kids are taught differently in school.

“We didn’t cross the border; the border crossed us,” Huerta said.

Huerta emphasized that people should consider themselves as one species regardless of their racial or ethnic differences.

“We’re all Africans of different kinds and colors,” Huerta said. “We only have one race: homo sapien. They may be lighter or darker, but all people are Africans in this world. Muumuu men, KKK, get over it: You’re African.”

An audience member asked Huerta why she endorsed Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate for the 2008 presidential election, to which Huerta answered that Clinton has intelligence, experience and integrity. Huerta said Clinton sponsored 30 pieces of labor legislation and was against dumping waste in Nevada.

Huerta said Barack Obama, the other major candidate for the Democratic nomination, did not have the history that Clinton did with labor legislation. Huerta referred to an instance Obama was asked to visit a city from which a Mexican woman was about to be deported, but refused. Huerta also said when two Latinos were in jail, the Latino community sought help from Obama when he a senator in Illinois, but he refused to help or meet with the community.

Another audience member asked how college students could help the civil rights movement. Huerta said that college students would have more power so they must politicize and organize their communities to raise money for political candidates.

“It’s all a matter of money,” Huerta said. “Where are your tax dollars going? To schools or prisons? … President Bush works for us. Councilmen work for us.”

Lovett College senior Tess Elmore said she thought Huerta was motivating.

“The way she puts things and is so adamant about what’s wrong made her really convincing,” Elmore said.

However, Elmore said she was surprised at how few people attended the lecture.

“I wish more of Rice could’ve been here,” she said. “It’s so unfortunate that more people aren’t here. When the Clinton and the Dalai Lama came to Rice, there were a lot of people. There might not have been a lot of publicity.”

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