[1]In the late 1930s, the Chávez family had joined some 300,000 migrant workers who followed the crops in California. Migrant workers would travel all over the state, picking whatever was in season for the farm owners. The migrant workers had no permanent homes. They lived in dingy overcrowded quarters, without bathrooms, electricity, or running water. Sometimes, they lived in the pickup trucks in which they traveled. Like the Chávez family, most of them were of Mexican descent.
The main idea of this paragraph is:
In the late 1930s, the Chávez family had joined some 300,000 migrant workers in California
The Chávez family were migrant farm workers who lived in deplorable conditions
Sometimes, they even lived in their trucks.
[2]Going to school wasn't easy for the children of the migrant workers, since they were always on the move. César and his siblings attended more than thirty schools. Many times, their teachers were neither friendly nor helpful. The teachers of migrant children often felt that since these children would soon move on to other farms in other towns, teaching them wasn't worth the effort.
The main idea of this paragraph is:
César and his brothers and sisters attended more than thirty schools.
Many of César's teachers were neither friendly or helpful.
César and his siblings did not get a good education because they were always moving.
[3]Some of these teachers were even prejudiced against Spanish-speaking students. "When we spoke Spanish," Chávez remembers, "the teacher swooped down on us. I remember the ruler whistling through the air as its edge came down sharply across my knuckles. It really hurt. Even out in the playground, speaking Spanish brought punishment." He remembers hating school. "It wasn't the learning I hated, but the conflicts," he recalls. Despite all his difficulties in school, César managed to graduate from the eighth grade. For migrant children in those days, graduation was an unusual occurrence.
The main idea of this paragraph is:
César's teachers would hit his knuckles with a ruler for speaking Spanish.
César Chávez graduated from the eighth grade in spite of many difficulties.
Even out in the playground, speaking Spanish brought punishment from the teachers.
[4]Chávez had worked part-time in the fields while he was in school. After graduation he began to work full-time. He preferred working in the vineyards because grape pickers generally stayed in the same place for a longer time. He kept noticing that the labor contractors and the landowners exploited the workers. He tried reasoning with the farm owners about higher pay and better working conditions. But most of his fellow workers would not support him for fear of losing their jobs. As a solitary voice, Chávez had no power.
The main idea of this paragraph is:
César Chávez worked part-time in the field while he went to school and full-time after he graduated from school.
ACésar Chávez tried to get higher wages and better working conditions but he wa not supported by the farm workers.
César Chávez kept noticing that the landowners and the labor contractors were taking advantage of the poor migrant farm workers.
[5]One day, a man from the local Community Service Organization wanted to recruit Chávez. He wanted him to join the organization to help inform the migrant workers of their rights. At first, Chávez was suspicious of the man because he was "Anglo," or non-Mexican white. But the man from the Community Service Organization convinced him of his good intentions, and Chávez became a part-time organizer for the group. During the day, he picked apricots on a farm. In the evening, he organized farm workers to register to vote. He was so successful that he registered more than 2,000 workers in just two months. But he was so busy helping the farm workers that he neglected his own work. As a result, he lost his job in the fields.
The main idea of this paragraph is:
Cesar Chavez devoted all his time and energy registering farm workers to joining a union.
Chávez was so successful that he registered more than 2,000 workers in just two months.
Chávez picked apricots on a farm during the day.
An Anglo man approached Cesar Chavez about working for an organization to help the farm workers.
[6]He then went to work full-time for the Community Service Organization. He had to organize meetings to tell the workers of their rights. He worried because he felt he wasn't a good speaker. So at first, he did more listening than speaking. In time, he grew more confident and found that people listened to him and liked his message. But, it was still very difficult to persuade the workers to fight for their rights. They were always afraid of losing their jobs.
The main idea of this paragraph is:
The farm workers were always afraid of losing their rights.
Chávez had to organize meetings to tell the workers of their rights
At first, Chávez did more listening than speaking because he felt that he was not a good speaker.
Chávez found it difficult to persuade workers to fight even though he was a confident speaker.
[7]By 1962, he could no longer stand to see the workers being taken advantage of, watching as they worked long hours for low pay. At the age of thirty-five, he left his own well paid job to devote all his time to organizing the farm workers into a union. His wife had to become a fruit picker in the fields to feed their children. Chávez traveled from camp to camp organizing the workers. In each camp, he recruited a few followers. By this time he had also gotten many other members of his family involved in the movement. At the end of six months, 300 members of the National Farm Workers Union, as the group was first called, met in Fresno, California. At that first meeting, they approved their flag, a red background with a black eagle in a white circle in the center. "La Causa" (The Cause) was born!
The main idea of this paragraph is:
César's wife had to work as a farm worker in order to help make ends meet.
At the end of six months, members of the National Farm Workers Union met as a group.
Chávez devoted his energies into forming the National Farm Workers Union to improve the farm workers'
lives.
The National Farm Workers Union adopted a flag at the first meeting.
[8]With a strong leader to represent them, the workers began to demand their rights for fair pay and better working conditions. Without these rights, no one would work in the fields. A major confrontation occurred in 1965. The grape growers didn't listen to the union's demands, and the farmhands wanted a strike. At first, Chávez wanted to avoid a strike, but he was finally convinced that there was no other way. The workers left the fields, and the unharvested grapes began to rot on the vines. The growers hired illegal workers and brought in strikebreakers and thugs to beat up the strikers.
The main idea of this paragraph is:
The farm workers went on strike for better working conditions and fair pay.
The grape growers did not listen to the demands of the farm workers.
The farm workers left the fields and allowed the unharvested grapes to rot on the vine.
The growers hired illegal workers and strikebreakers to work the fields and beat up the strikers.
[9]The dispute was bitter. Union members-Chávez included- were jailed repeatedly. But public officials, religious leaders, and ordinary citizens from all across the United States flocked to California to march in support of the farm workers. Then, in 1970, some grape growers signed agreements with the union. The union lifted the grape boycott, and its members began to pick grapes again.
The main idea of this paragraph is:
The union won the bitter dispute.
Union members were jailed, including César Chávez.
Public officials, religious leaders, and ordinary citizens from all across the United States flocked to California to march in support of the farm workers
