Remembering César Chávez’s legacy
By
TUCSON, Ariz.--March 27 was the 10th annual César Chávez march and rally to honor the farmworkers' leader.
In Tucson, some 300 students, teachers, parents and community activists marched from the Pueblo High School to the Rudy Garcia Park, where speakers addressed Chavez' legacy as well as the importance of continuing the struggle today against growing budget cuts and racist attacks against local ethnic studies programs.
the air to the beat of loud chants of "Sí se puede, sí, sí se puede!" At the rally, music played and students from several local school districts danced in front of the stage while marchers walked around the different tables of 24 different vendors and community groups.
Groups with tables at the event varied--from members of the LGBT community center Wingspan to the United Food and Commercial Workers union, whose members just last year won a favorable contract renegotiation with the grocery chains Fry's and Safeway.
The public education system has been under attack by the Arizona legislature, but the budget cuts started way before the economic downturn. For years, students, parents and teachers have been fighting racist legislation, such as the bill SB 1069, which would cut federal funding to schools that teach ethnic studies by 10 percent each month.
Another outrage is a recent vote by the Tucson Magnet High School's governing board, which allows military recruiters to set up tables outside the lunchroom. The vote effectively removed a restriction on the recruiters, who were forced to set up shop in the school's counseling office. It seems too few students came to visit them, and recruiters urged the governing board to grant them "more visibility."
Those participating in the César Chávez march were quick to point out this and many other attacks on public education within the state of Arizona. The continued increase in fees and tuitions and cuts to state and federal funding are having a heavy impact on all children, especially from poor and working-class communities.
Chávez's legacy is remembered, and new generations are being taught a culture of resistance, not just in the classrooms but on the streets.
