Cesar Chavez's mark on Oregon history

[struggle4progress]

by Randy Shaw, guest opinion
Wednesday March 04, 2009, 7:30 AM

Randy Shaw

Opponents of renaming a Portland street to honor Cesar Chavez often argue that the United Farm Workers leader had no connection to this area. But in August 1971, Chavez galvanized a statewide campaign against an Oregon anti-farmworker bill that ultimately shaped the legacy of both the state and one of its now-legendary politicians, former Gov. Tom McCall.

Chavez got involved with Oregon politics after the state Legislature passed an anti-farmworker law. The bill was on McCall's desk, and he had a week to sign or veto it. Chavez dispatched Fred Ross Jr. and Jerry Cohen, the UFW's chief legal counsel, to Oregon and told them to mount an all-out campaign during that week.

Cohen quickly got into the spirit of things by announcing that if McCall signed the bill, "Oregon would be the Mississippi of the Northwest. We're going to put a picket line up around your state and stop people from coming in." The Oregon media loved such talk, and Cohen's comments made headlines -- even though he knew that the UFW couldn't carry out such a threat.

Chavez, meanwhile, called for a nationwide boycott of Oregon products and specifically of the state's lumber products. Ross was busy organizing farmworkers, clergy and Portland activists into a round-the-clock vigil on the steps of the Capitol. As women prayed that the governor would support justice for farmworkers, Chavez arrived at the Capitol, drawing a crowd of 5,000 people. Chavez denounced the bill at the rally in the strongest terms, and with thousands of telegrams and phone calls flooding into McCall's office, the governor vetoed the bill ... http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/03/cesar_chavezs_mark_on_oregon_h.html