Activist calls for equality for immigrant workers

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of justice and equality should be extended to America's immigrant workers, a champion of rights for farmworkers and women said Wednesday in Everett.

Dolores Huerta, a co-founder with César Chávez of the United Farm Workers union, told audiences at Everett High School and at a noon-time rally that King's last speech was in support of striking garbage workers in Memphis, Tenn.

"He spent his last days trying to get dignity and respect for workers," Huerta said. "We should stand with the families who today do the heavy work of this country."

Huerta led the boycott of grapes in the 1960s that forced growers to provide better conditions for migrant workers, including toilets and water in the fields, sick leave and medical benefits.

The farmworkers' rallying cry, "Si se puede" — "Yes, we can," has been picked up by a new generation of Latino activists calling for immigration reform and rights for undocumented workers.

But many in the high-school audience had not heard of 76-year-old Huerta before Wednesday, or of her efforts the past four decades on behalf of human rights. Some of the schools non-Latino students were less receptive to her remarks.

"I didn't know anything before today," said Jesse Potts, ASB president and a senior at Everett High. He called Huerta's call for immigrant rights "controversial" and objected to her leading students in the "Si se puede" chant.

"She put words in our mouths," he said.

Everett High School was the scene of a melee last year between police and Latino students. Seven students were arrested and many more suspended after the fight. The incident exacerbated racial tensions at the school and prompted a demonstration on the Snohomish County courthouse steps by Latino parents and community leaders who said their students were discriminated against.

About 60 Everett High School students participated in the march and rally Wednesday. They said the atmosphere at the school has improved over the past year and that they appreciated the administration's efforts to bring in speakers such as Huerta.

"I'm glad the school has gotten Latino speakers," said Vincente Barragan, a senior.

Ana Fuentes was one of the Everett High students most familiar with Huerta's work. Fuentes' mother picked oranges as a teenager in California. When other students went on summer vacation, Fuentes said, her mother went to work from sunrise to sunset. Knowing there were activists such as Huerta working for better conditions for farmworkers bolstered her mother's spirits.

"She [Huerta] was a strong, powerful woman. Her voice was loud. My mom said that knowing someone supported her made her work easier," Fuentes said.

The march and rally, part of the Everett Events Center King Day celebration, drew just 200 participants, compared to about 1,000 last year. Organizers said the threat of snow and stormy weather may have kept people away.

A group of about 50 middle-school students from Seattle drove to Everett for the march and rally. The students from Lake Washington Girls Middle School said they studied about farmworkers this fall and visited Eastern Washington to learn about the conditions of agricultural workers.

"They have some of the hardest jobs in the country," said seventh-grader Jamie Keene. "We're here to support them. We believe they deserve the rights that all humans deserve."

Lynn Thompson: 425-745-7807 or lthompson@seattletimes.com