Since before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, race relations between the United States and Mexico have been less than great. The United States has a history of prejudice and racism. On a national level this sentiment has formed some legislation, and on a lower level it has formed the way many people conduct their lives. Mexican have been exploited for their work for decades. One man fought long and hard for his people and their civil liberties. That man was Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona to a middle-class family. Cesars family owned there land and also ran a business. When the depression hit in the1930's, the young Cesar Chavez and his family left to find work in California as farm laborers because they had lost everything that they owned. This period of Cesars life was what formed the way that he would look at farm labor. Having never worked in the fields, Cesar quickly realized what it was like to be a farm laborer. Cesar was born into a politically active family. Cesars father was very active in his community in Yuma, Arizona. While working as a farm laborer, Cesars father joined many labor unions. In 1952, Cesar found a job as a volunteer in the Community Service Organization (CSO). As a volunteer he would register voters by going door to door. Shortly after he started the volunteer work Cesar was made chairman of the registration drive. During the mid 1950's Cesar became a full time organizer for the CSO, and recieved 35 dollars a week for his work. He was assigned to a voter registration drive in DeCoto, a town in Alameda county. This drive was very successful. The CSO made Cesar a statewide organizer. As an organizer for the CSO, Cesar fought the farmers exploitation of the Mexican people by questioning the legitimacy of the Bracero program. In 1958, Cesar went to Oxnard, to support a local labor union strike. He found that the locals were upset because the braceros were taking thei...
