The Struggle in Black and Brown: African American and Mexican American Relations during the Civil Rights Era

3. Complicating the Beloved Community: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the National Farm Workers Association

THREE Complicating the Beloved Community The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the National Farm Workers Association LAUREN ARAIZA Elizabeth Sutherland Martínez had chosen her dress just for the occasion—it was red and black to match the flag of the National Farm Workers Association (nfwa). Martínez had traveled from New York City to California’s central valley to show support for the union of primarily Mexican American farm workers . Led by Cesar Chavez, the farm workers were marching 250 miles from Delano to Sacramento to draw attention to their struggles against Delano grape growers. That evening, as the marchers rested, ate, and visited in a community center in a small, dusty town along the route, Martínez was asked to give a speech as a representative of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (sncc). She hurried to the ladies room where she scribbled a short address on a steno pad, changed into her specially selected dress, and ran back to the hall. In Spanish, Mart ínez spoke for sncc when she proclaimed, “we are with you and we are proud of your march and your victory because it is a victory for all the poor of the world.”1 sncc’s relationship with the farm workers illuminates previously hidden dimensions of the organization that expand our understanding of its philosophy, priorities, and mission. COMPLICATING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY 79 Although far from sncc’s centers of organizing in the Deep South, the support that sncc demonstrated for the nfwa was characteristic of the organization. In addition to combating racial inequality, sncc challenged America’s caste system, which it saw as antithetical to a democratic society. The intent to challenge not only American racial mores and the political system, but also the economic and class structure of the nation, set sncc apart from other civil rights organizations. sncc’s commitment to economic issues led to an appreciation of multiracial equality that escaped many of the other civil rights organizations of the era. This dimension, which complicates the traditional understanding of sncc as solely concerned with the plight of African Americans, was most explicitly demonstrated in its relationship with the nfwa, founded in 1962 by Cesar Chavez. Beginning in January 1965, sncc provided the farm workers with physical , monetary, and tactical support. An examination of the relationship between sncc and the nfwa reveals important aspects of black-Chicano relations during the civil rights era by demonstrating that coalitions between the two groups were only successful if they were based on more than one point of solidarity , not just a sense of camaraderie as racial minorities. Members of sncc pioneered an alliance with the nfwa because they were acutely aware of the economic basis of oppression and understood its connection to racial discrimination. This caused sncc activists to recognize that African Americans and Mexican Americans were victim to the same oppressive forces and led them to see the potential in an alliance between the civil rights movement and Mexican American farm workers. As Martínez told the marchers, “it is necessary that blacks and Mexicans see that there is only one cause—justice.”2 The alliance between the two organizations came about at a time of transition for sncc. After the tumultuous Freedom Summer of 1964, sncc’s central office called for members to present position papers at a staff meeting in Waveland, Mississippi ARAIZA 80 in November 1964. In the wake of beatings, murders, voter intimidation , and the failure of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (mfdp), sncc experienced a period of disunity and disillusionment. Mike Miller, a white staff member who headed the San Francisco sncc office, saw the meeting at Waveland as an opportunity to expand the mission of sncc to confront the issue of economic inequality. In response to a questionnaire distributed to sncc offices nationwide, Miller wrote: “[T]hat the question ‘what should be sncc’s position on African affairs?’ is raised and the question, for example, ‘what is sncc’s position on the labor movement?’ is not raised seems to me to ignore what we have to do here and now. . . . The day-to-day world in which we live is such that uaw affairs are probably more relevant to mfdp, cofo, and sncc than African affairs.” Many sncc members were inspired by recent African liberation struggles and were thus motivated to form connections with countries freed from colonial rule. In fact, a...