Huerta: 'Who's going to defend our democracy?'

Apr. 4—Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta delivered a keynote address on "Amplifying the Voices of Farmworkers" at the CUB auditorium at Washington State University on Monday, urging students to take action and stand up against systemic oppression.

Huerta, now 92 years old, is an American Labor leader and civil rights activist who has long advocated for farmworkers, women, the LGBTQ community and Mexican-American immigrants. She is also co-founder of the United Farm Workers union, alongside César Chávez.

"Google the map of the United States before 1848," Huerta said. "What do you find out? That one third of the United States was Mexico — people from Mexico, from Guatemala, this is their home."

Despite her fame as a vocal protester against injustices faced by farmworkers and other marginalized communities, Huerta firmly believes that real change can only come through voting. In her view, casting a ballot is the most powerful tool for bringing about social change in our society.

"When we go out there and we protest and we march, we gotta take that march to the ballot box," Huerta said. "When George Floyd was killed, we saw millions of people marching all over the world and here in the United States of America. But the law that they tried to pass in the Congress didn't make it for police reform."

Huerta also mentioned the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, saying she worked on it for "four months" with Ted Kennedy. The bill allowed various immigrant families to receive citizenship, including many who raised their hands in the audience at WSU.

"I see a hand over here. I see another hand over there. OK?" Huerta said. "How did we do that? By getting all of those people I mentioned elected to office."

According to an article in InvestigateWest, data from the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs and the 2018 U.S. Census suggests 72% of Latinos are U.S. citizens that are 18 years or older. This would be about 101,000 eligible voters.

But it can be challenging for Latinos to participate in the voting process due to the limited number of voters within their families.

"Our democracy right now is on the brink. And we saw that on Jan. 6 (2021)," Huerta said. "That's happening, and a lot of our families are here in the United States. This is what we're fighting for, to save our democracy. Who's going to defend our democracy?"

Carrillo-Casas can be contacted at mcarrillo@dnews.com