Background and Causes of the Hispanic American Movement
- After World War II, Hispanic Americans, especially Mexican Americans, faced low wages, segregation, and limited access to education and housing.
- The Chicano Movement (El Movimiento) emerged in the 1960s as part of the broader struggle for civil rights and social justice, inspired by African American activism.
- Activists sought to end discrimination, reclaim cultural pride, and secure labor rights, political representation, and bilingual education.
- Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and other Latino groups mobilized around issues of identity (Chicanismo) and economic equality.
Definition
Chicano
- A term reclaimed by Mexican Americans in the 1960s to express cultural pride and political identity.
César Chávez and the United Farm Workers (UFW)
- César Chávez, along with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW) in 1962 to improve the lives of migrant agricultural laborers.
- Farm workers, mostly Mexican and Filipino Americans, faced poverty wages, unsafe conditions, and no labor rights under California growers.
- The UFW organized strikes and boycotts, including the famous Delano Grape Strike (1965–1970), which lasted five years and drew national support.
- Chávez promoted nonviolence, fasting, and community organizing to win contracts recognizing workers’ rights and collective bargaining.
- His activism transformed labor relations and linked Latino identity to social justice and dignity.
