points of action

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the National Council of La Raza have expressed anger over the U.S. Senate’s failure to pass a resolution commemorating the birthday and honoring the legacy of noted labor and civil rights leader César Chávez. The measure was blocked by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) objection to the resolution. The groups derided McConnell for placing “political gamesmanship” above farmworkers’ legacy when requesting the inclusion of language on Chávez’s involvement in a 1969 march against growers’ importation of undocumented immigrant labor to thwart the United Farm Workers of America’s organizing efforts: “The inclusion of such language suggests that César Chávez would not have been appalled and outraged by today’s anti-immigrant sentiment and policies, which not only is offensive but dead wrong. There is a time and place to debate the immigration issue, but to deny a great leader this congressional honor is a slap in the face.”

read more at the National Council of La Raza