Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers Association, spoke at Washington State University to cap off a week of activism and education regarding farmworker awareness.
Huerta has been a civil rights activist and a community organizer for over 50 years. Approaching 93 years of age, she is still working to educate and fight for labor rights and social justice.
However, her talk focused on the need for a good and equal education for all students, regardless of color.
“Unfortunately, some people out there think that students of color don’t deserve an equal education and that all comes from slavery,” Huerta said. “(As a slave), it was illegal for people to learn how to read and write. A lot of things that we suffer come from slavery.”
A goal of Huerta’s is to make sure students understand that the issues they face today came about due to slavery and the colonization of the United States.
Huerta said that in California, high school students will soon be required to take a class on ethnic studies to graduate. This change came about due to legislation that will take place for Californian students in the 2025-2026 school year.
Huerta said that the failure to teach this history is similar to what is going on with the war between Russia and Ukraine and the erasure of the legacy of the people who lived there.
“The Mexican-American War, the United States took 50% of Mexico, and half of Mexico became the United States,” Huerta said.
She also voiced her concern about the banning of books that teach this history and the ancestry of the indigenous people.
“They want to make sure that our history is not taught,” Huerta said. “This is what we’re up against, what we’re fighting.”
One of the other issues that Huerta spoke about was the issue of voting. Huerta held up a piece of paper showcasing the Latino population in the U.S.
Folding it in half, Huerta said that this is the number of Latinos who are citizens. Folding that in half showcased those that are registered to vote, and one final fold showed those that do vote.
“We don’t like that picture,” Huerta said. “That’s not a good picture because the only way that we’re going to get the things that we need is by getting people to vote.”
There was a student that talked to Huerta prior to her talk and asked what they could do to invoke change aside from voting, according to Huerta.
“There’s no other game in town,” Huerta said. “When we go out, and we protest, and we march, we’re going to take that march to the ballot box.”
Going on the discussion of politics, Huerta said that our democracy is at risk and that such risk started on Jan. 6.
Citing Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega’s book, “The Revolution of Masses,” Huerta said that those who are uneducated would be taken advantage of.
“The greedy, the corrupt and the powerful will rule; they will govern,” Huerta said. “That’s why it’s so important that all of us get that message out there and tell people why it’s important to participate.”
Daniel V. Ramirez can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @DVR_Tweets