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Texas Farmworker: 1966 Strike 'Was Like Heading Into War'

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Fifty years ago, farmworkers in Texas walked off their jobs to protest low pay and terrible working conditions. They marched across the state in the searing summer heat. Many of them were beaten and arrested. It's a historic event rarely mentioned in history books. Now some of those marchers are telling their stories. From KUT's the Texas Standard, Joy Diaz reports.

JOY DIAZ, BYLINE¹: Daria Vera has never forgotten that brutally² hot summer back in 1966.

DARIA VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: Wait for me here, she says as she goes to the back room of her tiny home. Vera comes back holding a box and shows me some of her pictures.

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: Pointing to a little girl on the picture, Vera says, this is my daughter. She was so little, probably 2 years old, always with us even during the strike.

In 1966, Vera was only 20. Both she and her husband picked onions and cantaloupes for a living with their child by their side.

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: Renters used to pay us 40 cents an hour for picking cantaloupes, she says. Wages were so low that kids as young as 5 would join in the picking to add to a family's income. Just to put things in perspective, sanitation³ workers at the time made about 1.27 an hour - three times more than a farmworker.

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: Out of the box comes another photo.

(Speaking Spanish).

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: Who are these people, I ask.

They're some of the farmworkers who went on strike, she says.

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: Do you want to hear from them? Come. Let's visit Valdemar Diaz. He lives nearby.

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: It's a hot day in Rio Grande City, Texas, about 15 minutes from the U.S.-Mexico border. Trees surround the Diaz mobile home. We wait in the shade.

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: When Diaz joins us under a tree, he says, before the strike, working conditions for south Texas farmworkers were the stuff of nightmares. Bathrooms were nonexistent, medical services - a fantasy and even drinking water was a luxury.

VALDEMAR DIAZ: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: I remember we would drink from puddles⁴ left by the irrigation system, he says, full of frogs and crickets. We would push the critters out of the way and drink from the puddles.

In the spring of '66, the workers decided⁵ to walk off the job. Union leaders from California, including Cesar Chavez, came to Texas and helped organize the strike. Their demands were simple. They wanted work contracts, wages of 1.25 an hour, water breaks and access to bathrooms.

DIAZ: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: It was like heading into war, Diaz says, because ranchers were not budging⁶. Indeed, ranchers dissed the farmworkers' demands and called in the Texas Rangers⁷.

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: They used to beat us up, Vera says, and would arrest us.

But the Rangers - their beatings, even the arrests failed to break the strike, so ranchers opted⁸ for a different route. They started bussing in workers from Mexico. Strikers knew their only hope for success was to damage the ranchers financially, so they blocked the U.S.-Mexico bridge in Roma, Texas.

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: They handcuffed me behind my back, Vera says, they dragged me across the bridge and arrested me.

By summer, it was clear the strike alone was failing, but unrest was palpable all over the country. Inspired by the famous Selma to Montgomery march led by Martin Luther King in '65, farmworkers in Texas decided to march, too.

ERMINIA RAMIREZ TREVINO: We started right about right here.

DIAZ: Erminia Ramirez Trevino was only 13 the day the march kicked off.

TREVINO: From Rio Grande City all the way to Austin, Texas. It took us two months.

DIAZ: Change took much longer - years. So I ask Daria Vera was it all worth it?

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: Oh, yes, she says, workers should be proud of what we did.

VERA: (Speaking Spanish).

DIAZ: Today fields in Texas have port-a-potties and water stations for workers. Workers are entitled to earn the federal minimum wage. One thing hasn't changed, though. Farm work in Texas is still plagued with abuse, and those who dare to speak up on this side of the border continue to be easily replaced by those from the other side. For NPR News, I'm Joy Diaz in Rio Grande City, Texas.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

3 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

4 puddles   

n.水坑， （尤指道路上的）雨水坑( puddle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The puddles had coalesced into a small stream. 地面上水洼子里的水汇流成了一条小溪。
• The road was filled with puddles from the rain. 雨后路面到处是一坑坑的积水。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 budging   

v.（使）稍微移动( budge的现在分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步

参考例句：

• Give it up, plumber. She's not budging. 别费劲了，水管工。她不会改变主意的。 来自互联网
• I wondered how Albert who showed no intention of budging, felt about Leopold's desertion. 对于从未有迁徙打算的艾伯特来说，我不知道它会怎样看待利奥波德这样弃它而去呢。 来自互联网

7 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

8 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。