The meaning of social justice is relating to the terms of the distribution of opportunities, wealth, and privileges within the society. As Catholics we must help build society in a justified and peaceful manner. Trying to work for social justice as Catholics can be difficult because some political leaders and laws support what Catholics find to be morally wrong. As Catholics we are also suppose to share the light of the Gospel with society to help make it a better place and grow closer to God. We also need to help society when it is dealing with situations and decisions that can have an affect whether or not people will treat other people in a just humane way. While being members of the Catholic church we have the responsibility to pass morale judgments on others so they can grow closer to God and become a better person. The farms workers were fighting many injustices that were undermining their humanity. Some of these injustices were that they did not have a bathroom, they had extremely low pay, they only had one glass of water for multiple families, and they did not have proper housing. The farm owners were also doing things that were harming the farmers health and putting their lives at risk such as that they did not have any health car, they did not have any medicine to help fight illness, and the farm owners were spraying pesticides one the workers putting their health at risk. All of these injustices were undermining the workers humanity in many ways. As
United Farm Workers: The United Farm workers are a labor union that was created solely for the farmworkers in the United States. The origins of this labor union came about from two different existing organizations known as the “Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee led by Larry Itliong and the National Farm Workers Association led by Cesar Chavez, and Dolores Huerta. These two organizations decided to work together to fight stronger together for their rights. This term relates to our reading because they are known for the “grape strike” that took place in 1965 in Delano, California. The labor union wanted to fight for their rights against the social injustices between the owners, and the farmers. In our text’s we have seen this constant mistreatment of owners, and their workers, through poor pay, rights, and belittlement because of their cultural ethnicity.
As a result, the work for social justice is an integral mission of the Church. Catholics are inspired and sustained through work for a just society.
Despite harsh working conditions, farmworkers have worked constantly for years due to the need of necessities for their families along with themselves. After thorough investigation, I have come to a conclusion that even after so many years of protesting as well as working diligently, farmworkers still have experienced unacceptable working conditions, however they were not as bad as the past. There was a definite need for a drastic change due to the working conditions of the farmworkers. Conditions may have improved due to the social justices that Cesar Chavez including The 5 Year Strike has gained. As I was comparing both working conditions of today’s farmworkers with farmworkers of other times in history, I have come to find many differences
Throughout the era of the great depression, migrant farm workers were put at unfair labor. A man named Cesar Chavez helped migrant farm workers by boycotting the fruit companies they worked for and forming unions for them. The beginning of Chavez’s life, striking and boycotting fruit companies, and his new projects were the biggest impact in changing farm worker’s lives.
To begin, the farmers were fighting for their rights. According to Document C, “what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?” (Jefferson). Thomas Jefferson explained that it is normal for people to protest if they think something is wrong. In this case, the farmers didn’t like that they were being punished because they couldn’t afford to pay the high taxes, so they started speaking up. But instead of pacifying the farmers, they were being
During the years of the Great Depression, Asian and Mexican immigrants had to take up the agricultural jobs in the United States. These immigrants made up the majority of the poor and faced problems with immigration, taxes, and the labor system, along with racial discrimination and a sense of inequality within society (Tejada-Flores, “The United”) Workers were surviving on 90 cents per hour with an addition of 10 cents per basket gathered for working in the fields and worked in poor environments and conditions. There were no toilets in the fields and no electricity or a plumbing system in the metal shacks that they were forced to pay two dollars or more per day for (“Fighting For Farm”). People then created and joined labor unions such as The United Farmworkers Union, which was established by the Mexican-American, Ceasar Chavez, to fight against injustice without violence for all farm workers. Chavez took all his important values, life lessons, and work experience to make a difference in the United States (Tejada-Flores, “Cesar Chavez”). Although he faces opposing opinions, he still managed to successfully lead the Delano grape strike and boycott and even help create the nation as we know it today.
The farm workers’ rights issues were also a major matter that the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement dealt with along with the other issues. Mexican-American migrant farm workers had to endure the harsh working conditions while traveling from farm to farm in the United States in search for work. While working, the farm workers tended to be exploited by farm owners while also receiving low wages that kept them below the poverty level (Ramirez). Due to certain
The capitalists and their industries greatly affected many citizens and even their own workers by dehumanizing them. Men would stand outside of factories for days, even weeks, waiting for the chance to get a job. The head of the industries would use this to their advantage by picking the strongest men and paying them a low amount of money and when they become injured or useless, they just hire someone else. The food industries were horrible with how they took care of their workers and their products. “For it was the custom, as they found, whenever meat was so spoiled that it could not be used for anything else, either to can it or else to chop it up into
Farm labor can be one of the most difficult job to handle. From the low wages to the horrible weather and health conditions. Most of these farm labor workers are immigrants who are here in the United States seeking for a better job, and providing for their children’s. However, they do not have a good job and are struggling so bad for their children. The average pay for a field worker is ten dollars per hour. There must be a change to these wages since many workers are working in extremely hot weather conditions that no one can imagine or are willing to work like that. Not only that, but the farmers benefit from them dramatically. In the 1984 address by Cesar E. Chavez, president of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO, to the Commonwealth Club of California, uses different appeals to present the unfairness a farm worker faces. His main point is to
They were protesting for the fact that the workers will get injured and they will suffer (Document A). No one was doing anything for the labor workers to be in better condition so they took matters into their own hands. Examples of unhealthy environment are those people that will work in a meat factory their hands were not sanitize to touch the meat (The Jungle by Upton Sinclair). The reason why not sanitize is because the workers will wash their hands in the water they will was the meat in. Mr. Sinclair, writes that the workers in the meat factor did not handle the meat safe and healthy for people to eat it. The workers will work around the dead rats. If anything fall to the ground and a rate was their the worker will still need to put that meat that fell to be mixed with the other meat even if it been contaminated. This will give the workers logical and explainable reasons for why they needed to protesting for wanting change for bettering their working conditions. There was a man
To me, social justice means everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities. My goal as a social worker will be to open the doors of opportunity for everyone, particularly those in greatest need. Social workers are dedicated, doing their best to ensure all people are treated with dignity and respect. Social workers involved in social justice are important because they set out to improve the relationship between people in different settings, while providing support and respect for
They were paid not to produce crops on as much land. This was supposed to lower the supply of crops and increase prices, which would help farmers. This decision came with consequences. America had to become “a major food- importing nation” (67) because farmers were not producing enough crops. Also since the farmers were gaining that meant that the consumer was losing. The prices of things like clothing and food greatly increased. This meant that many Americans were forced to wear old clothes and go hungry because they could not afford to pay the high prices. Since less merchandise was being sold, a lot of people who were employed in places like mills and textile companies lost their jobs. Also tenants of cotton plantations were left unemployed due to farms not using as much land.
Social Justice: To me, the term 'Social Justice' means to share the wealth and opportunities. This helps those who are underprivileged and do not get as many opportunities as others in our society. This is what God means by helping your neighbour. By sharing around opportunities more people in our society will have jobs so they can afford to provide for themselves. By sharing wealth around our society, people will be able to afford to care for themselves with food and when they are sick.
In “Wrath of Grapes Boycott Speech”, Cesar Chavez emphasizes that “We farm workers are closest to food production.” (690, Chavez) He highlights he is a farm worker working closest to food
Social justice describes the concept of society where justice is achieved in every aspect of society, rather than just the administration of the law. Overall, social justice gives society the ability to have a voice of laws that may be broken but give a sufficient argument to be heard by the supreme court. Equality is a major issue that has been demanded by society for centuries.