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Dolores Huerta: Organizing is the Only Answer
Phoenix, Arizona - Reached via telephone in her office in Bakersfield,
California, organizer and Chicano Movement icon Dolores Huerta
spoke to Barriozona Magazine about the recent decision of the
University of Texas at El Paso to cancel the observation of the Cesar
Chavez Day, the 14th Amendment, Ethnic Studies, Arizona, and other
important issues for the Latino community.
Barriozona Magazine: Mrs. Huerta, what is your opinion about the
UTEP's cancellation of Cesar Chavez Day?
Dolores Huerta: It is a disappointment, because if there was any time
when Latino students and the Latino community needed support, it is
now and for them to cancel it I think it’s very disappointing
I don’t know what the other 12 holidays are but if Columbus Day is
one of them… you know what I mean? That’s one that they can
definitely substitute. I think for the Latino community, especially for
the students for all of the reasons that you know and that you have
stated of Cesar being such an example for everybody, they should
definitely keep that day as a holiday. Especially since 76 percent of
the students in the UTEP are Latino, there’s just no excuse not to
have it there.
Barriozona Magazine: What do you think about the current attempts
by some legislators to modify the 14th Amendment?
Dolores Huerta: I think it’s insane, it’s racist right off the back, it’s
ethnic cleansing, it’s adding more salt to all of the wounds, and all of
the insults that our community has been suffering; it’s terrible. But I
think the only thing that hopefully our people will get mad enough que
se van a organizar (that they are going to get organized), you know
what I mean? This is the only answer. We have said plainly that we
know that we got the power, we got the numbers, we just got to get
it together. It’s important that we see all these things that are
happening to us –especially in Arizona–, that we got to come
together and we got to organize, we got to really use our numbers
and our power in a very non-violent way so we can stop these
abuses; these are political abuses that they are inflicting upon us,
and it’s not going to stop until we make them pay the political price.
Do you know they took me out of the grammar schools in Texas? Did
you hear about that? They took me out of the libros of grammar
school. One of the reasons they claimed is because I was a member
of an organization called the Democratic Socialists of America, which
they claimed is a political party, which is not a political party, it’s a
private organization that John Sweeney -the head of the AFL-CIO-,
Gloria Steinem, Michael Harrington, Harold Meyerson -who writes for
the American Prospect Magazine-, these are all people that belong to
this organization, and for that reason me quitaron (they took me out).
At least that is the excuse that they used.
Barriozona Magazine: What are your thoughts regarding the Arizona
Superintendent of Public Education's push to get rid of the Ethnic
Studies curriculum in the Tucson Unified School District?
Dolores Huerta: I heard Roberto Rodriguez’ interview last night on
Radio Bilingue, and the other professor they had –they had two
professors– and they went through all of the different things that
they are cutting out. But you know what? The thing is that we are
going to have to start doing like they did during the 60s when we had
what we called the Freedom Schools. When they did not have ethnic
studies they had the Freedom Schools, and people got together and
they were teaching what we called our ethnic studies. And the reason
they don’t want to have ethnic studies (in Tucson) is because we
know that that really adds to the self esteem of our children, qué no?
(is it not so?). That makes them proud of whom they are, what their
heritage is, and this is of course what they need, they need to have
self esteem, and they need to know their history. But at the same
time we know that knowledge without action is wasted, no? So once
we have knowledge of our history and our heritage then we have to
act, we have to do something. So it is not enough to have the
knowledge, we also got to do the action behind it. The political action
that it takes to make sure the abuse doesn't continue.
Barriozona Magazine: Is the American society reverting to some of the
issues you fought for during the 60s and 70s?
Dolores Huerta: Absolutely, but you know what, it’s not the American
society, it’s a few haters. We don’t want to target everybody with
that. Son unos pocos locos, (they’re just a few nuts) you know what I
mean; people that are haters, people that are racists, they are the
ones that are doing this. It’s not everybody, so we shouldn't say that
it is everybody; it’s just those who are using hatemongering for
political advantage. We have to be careful that we don’t paint
everybody with the same brush.
Barriozona Magazine: What do you consider to be the most pressing
issue for Latinos in Arizona?
Dolores Huerta: Like I said before, I think the only answer is to
organize. I made some comments in Tucson when they had the ethnic
studies seminar (December 2010). What I said then I am going to
repeat it, because, I mean, I’ve been around a long time and I was
there during the 60s when we were going through many of the same
types of situations that we’re going through right now, and the only
answer for us is to start organizing. No hay otra (there's no other
way), you know? And if we have to march, that’s important that we
march. It is important that we protest. But we also have to organize
because the only way that we can change is through organizing. I
said this and some people took offense with me by what I said, but I
am going to repeat it, because I saw even in this last election; what
did we see in this last election? We saw that in Nevada that only has
12 percent Latinos, they actually put over, they were able to get
(Senator) Harry Reid elected as the president of the Senate. After
millions of dollars that the Republicans put in there to defeat him. But
it was the Latino vote that worked for him. The same thing happened
in Colorado with (Senator) Mike Bennet; he ran for the senate over
there. The thing is that we know that the ultimate thing for us is to
organize, and in Arizona, here you have Nevada that only has 12
percent Latino, and I don’t know how many there are in Colorado, but
I do know that in Arizona we have a lot of Latinos; 30 percent of the
population! If in Nevada 12 percent could do what they did, what’s
wrong with us in Arizona? Nos falta organizarnos (we are lacking to get
organized). We have to organize over there.
It’s important to march and everything, but we have to get people to
get registered to vote. If we can register the people to vote and get
them out to vote... because not everybody is a hater, you know? A lot
of the people there would be on our side. But we have to go and
explain, we have to explain to them what the contributions of our
immigrants are, we have to go door to door. Here in California –I
don't know if you know what happened in California– but all of the
most liberal Democrats got elected; the most liberal Democrats! All
these people got elected from San Francisco, and Berkeley and
Oakland! And you know how they got elected? With the Latino votes
from L.A. It was the Latino vote from Los Angeles, and these are
people that are going to be on our side. I think if we can do it in
California we can do it in Arizona, and Texas. I don’t know qué más
patadas nos tienen que dar (how many more times do we need to be
kicked) so we can wake up.
I was disappointed when I was in Phoenix and I was talking to other
people over there that they didn't think voting was important. And
they criticized me. There’s a group over there and they’re criticizing
me because I keep saying that. But I only said that because I’ve seen
it, I’ve seen the results of that and we can really win that way.
The only thing that I want to say to everybody out there is, we are
not going to get mad, but we are going to get even. And all these
people are going to pay the political price eventually.
California, organizer and Chicano Movement icon Dolores Huerta
spoke to Barriozona Magazine about the recent decision of the
University of Texas at El Paso to cancel the observation of the Cesar
Chavez Day, the 14th Amendment, Ethnic Studies, Arizona, and other
important issues for the Latino community.
Barriozona Magazine: Mrs. Huerta, what is your opinion about the
UTEP's cancellation of Cesar Chavez Day?
Dolores Huerta: It is a disappointment, because if there was any time
when Latino students and the Latino community needed support, it is
now and for them to cancel it I think it’s very disappointing
I don’t know what the other 12 holidays are but if Columbus Day is
one of them… you know what I mean? That’s one that they can
definitely substitute. I think for the Latino community, especially for
the students for all of the reasons that you know and that you have
stated of Cesar being such an example for everybody, they should
definitely keep that day as a holiday. Especially since 76 percent of
the students in the UTEP are Latino, there’s just no excuse not to
have it there.
Barriozona Magazine: What do you think about the current attempts
by some legislators to modify the 14th Amendment?
Dolores Huerta: I think it’s insane, it’s racist right off the back, it’s
ethnic cleansing, it’s adding more salt to all of the wounds, and all of
the insults that our community has been suffering; it’s terrible. But I
think the only thing that hopefully our people will get mad enough que
se van a organizar (that they are going to get organized), you know
what I mean? This is the only answer. We have said plainly that we
know that we got the power, we got the numbers, we just got to get
it together. It’s important that we see all these things that are
happening to us –especially in Arizona–, that we got to come
together and we got to organize, we got to really use our numbers
and our power in a very non-violent way so we can stop these
abuses; these are political abuses that they are inflicting upon us,
and it’s not going to stop until we make them pay the political price.
Do you know they took me out of the grammar schools in Texas? Did
you hear about that? They took me out of the libros of grammar
school. One of the reasons they claimed is because I was a member
of an organization called the Democratic Socialists of America, which
they claimed is a political party, which is not a political party, it’s a
private organization that John Sweeney -the head of the AFL-CIO-,
Gloria Steinem, Michael Harrington, Harold Meyerson -who writes for
the American Prospect Magazine-, these are all people that belong to
this organization, and for that reason me quitaron (they took me out).
At least that is the excuse that they used.
Barriozona Magazine: What are your thoughts regarding the Arizona
Superintendent of Public Education's push to get rid of the Ethnic
Studies curriculum in the Tucson Unified School District?
Dolores Huerta: I heard Roberto Rodriguez’ interview last night on
Radio Bilingue, and the other professor they had –they had two
professors– and they went through all of the different things that
they are cutting out. But you know what? The thing is that we are
going to have to start doing like they did during the 60s when we had
what we called the Freedom Schools. When they did not have ethnic
studies they had the Freedom Schools, and people got together and
they were teaching what we called our ethnic studies. And the reason
they don’t want to have ethnic studies (in Tucson) is because we
know that that really adds to the self esteem of our children, qué no?
(is it not so?). That makes them proud of whom they are, what their
heritage is, and this is of course what they need, they need to have
self esteem, and they need to know their history. But at the same
time we know that knowledge without action is wasted, no? So once
we have knowledge of our history and our heritage then we have to
act, we have to do something. So it is not enough to have the
knowledge, we also got to do the action behind it. The political action
that it takes to make sure the abuse doesn't continue.
Barriozona Magazine: Is the American society reverting to some of the
issues you fought for during the 60s and 70s?
Dolores Huerta: Absolutely, but you know what, it’s not the American
society, it’s a few haters. We don’t want to target everybody with
that. Son unos pocos locos, (they’re just a few nuts) you know what I
mean; people that are haters, people that are racists, they are the
ones that are doing this. It’s not everybody, so we shouldn't say that
it is everybody; it’s just those who are using hatemongering for
political advantage. We have to be careful that we don’t paint
everybody with the same brush.
Barriozona Magazine: What do you consider to be the most pressing
issue for Latinos in Arizona?
Dolores Huerta: Like I said before, I think the only answer is to
organize. I made some comments in Tucson when they had the ethnic
studies seminar (December 2010). What I said then I am going to
repeat it, because, I mean, I’ve been around a long time and I was
there during the 60s when we were going through many of the same
types of situations that we’re going through right now, and the only
answer for us is to start organizing. No hay otra (there's no other
way), you know? And if we have to march, that’s important that we
march. It is important that we protest. But we also have to organize
because the only way that we can change is through organizing. I
said this and some people took offense with me by what I said, but I
am going to repeat it, because I saw even in this last election; what
did we see in this last election? We saw that in Nevada that only has
12 percent Latinos, they actually put over, they were able to get
(Senator) Harry Reid elected as the president of the Senate. After
millions of dollars that the Republicans put in there to defeat him. But
it was the Latino vote that worked for him. The same thing happened
in Colorado with (Senator) Mike Bennet; he ran for the senate over
there. The thing is that we know that the ultimate thing for us is to
organize, and in Arizona, here you have Nevada that only has 12
percent Latino, and I don’t know how many there are in Colorado, but
I do know that in Arizona we have a lot of Latinos; 30 percent of the
population! If in Nevada 12 percent could do what they did, what’s
wrong with us in Arizona? Nos falta organizarnos (we are lacking to get
organized). We have to organize over there.
It’s important to march and everything, but we have to get people to
get registered to vote. If we can register the people to vote and get
them out to vote... because not everybody is a hater, you know? A lot
of the people there would be on our side. But we have to go and
explain, we have to explain to them what the contributions of our
immigrants are, we have to go door to door. Here in California –I
don't know if you know what happened in California– but all of the
most liberal Democrats got elected; the most liberal Democrats! All
these people got elected from San Francisco, and Berkeley and
Oakland! And you know how they got elected? With the Latino votes
from L.A. It was the Latino vote from Los Angeles, and these are
people that are going to be on our side. I think if we can do it in
California we can do it in Arizona, and Texas. I don’t know qué más
patadas nos tienen que dar (how many more times do we need to be
kicked) so we can wake up.
I was disappointed when I was in Phoenix and I was talking to other
people over there that they didn't think voting was important. And
they criticized me. There’s a group over there and they’re criticizing
me because I keep saying that. But I only said that because I’ve seen
it, I’ve seen the results of that and we can really win that way.
The only thing that I want to say to everybody out there is, we are
not going to get mad, but we are going to get even. And all these
people are going to pay the political price eventually.
By Eduardo Barraza January 10, 2011
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| ADVERTISEMENT |
Longtime organizer and legendary
Chicano Movement leader Dolores
Huerta stresses the need for
effective organizing and voter
registration.
Photo: Eduardo Barraza
Chicano Movement leader Dolores
Huerta stresses the need for
effective organizing and voter
registration.
Photo: Eduardo Barraza
Published by the Hispanic Institute of Social Issues in Phoenix, Arizona
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| A collection of letters written by students struggling to continue with their education due to their immigration status. The letters document the socio-economic plight of Arizona immigrant students who were brought to the United States as children, and due to their legal status are forced to abandon college or pay out-of-the state tuition. A fully bilingual book in English and Spanish; includes black and white photographs. $19.95 + $3.99 s/h Total $23.94 |
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Eduardo Barraza is a journalist and writer,
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com
