good evening, i'm tavis smiley, more than a dozen states have found lawsuits challenging president trump's shutdown of daca, and divisions within the gop opened up on immigration issues, and countonight we'll t with that with dolores huerta. we're glad you could join us, coming up.

and by contributions to your pbs station, from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ >> dolores huerta is among the most important yet least known in history, she has been fighting at the grass roots for latino causes, and a new documentary about her life has been released, called simply, dolores, revealing the political issues involved in committing one's life to justice. >> there were very, very few

latinos, i'm talking about men, in the california legislature in the '50s and '60s, and here you have dolores, people just didn't do that in these days. >> we had one piece of legislation saying you had to be a citizen to get public assistance, i took parents whose kids had served in world war ii, to one senator that was chief to get that legislation, sat them in his office with the pictures of the kids, and their uniforms, i told them just stay here until he says yes, he will vote on that bill. >> what kind of a lobbyist is she? >> she is a great lobbyist, she is untirable. unorthodox. dolores will bring hundreds of people and camp outside your office. so when dolores is in sacramento, everybody knows she is in sacramento. >> when i watched this documentary, dolores, it's --

hard for me to sort of juxtapose the fight that you had to fight 50 years ago with the fights that you're still fighting 50 years later. i think about what president trump just did on daca. how do you process looking at what you were doing then and how in so many ways it's the same story half a century later? >> well, i think you just have to keep moving rward and look back at the successes and the laws which we were able to pass and just know that eventually we're going to win. but we just have to you know, not get depressed by the moment. and as an organizer, i always think this is an organizing opportunity. because now the racism is very visible. they have taken off the hoods, as al sharpton used to say, you can see their faces and they're declaring themselves in their intentions and what their beliefs are. so that means we have to say to everybody, everybody has to come

in now at the public and private level. everybody has to gauengage to m sure we end the racism in our society, that who built this country, the american indians, the first slaves, african-americans, mexicans, japanese, people from india that built the infrastructure of the united states. but if we don't get that into our school books then children of color will never have the dignity to know that they are citizens of this country. and my kids, you know, they will always think that somehow their people from europe did it all. so i think it's important that we really have to start to insist, we want the true story of the united states, because it's not just about our country, but the whole world. 75% of the people in this world are people of color, not anglos or white. >> when you come back, i want to remember something before i

forgive forget it. when you heard that president trump was going to roll back what president obama had done on daca, how did it strike you? >> well, i don't think it's going to happen. i think you have 70% of the people in the united states that support the daca students. the fact he said he was going to refer to the congress, i think there is a republican strategy at work here and i think they will try to divide the community. say to the daca student, okay we'll let you stay here but at the same time we're going to be passing these laws in the congress to triple the penalties of people that cross the border. you know, and so i think that it is some deviant strategy at work here. but i believe with a democratic governor and attorney general they will take it to court because it's a civil rights violation because they're targeting a particular group of people who happen to be of

mexic mexic mexic mexican descent, 70% will be able to stay here but i believe the republicans will try to use it to try to either quell the latino vote to make it look like they're doing something for them, but at the same time passing laws that are very punitive on the daca issue. >> help me understand, since you said it was a republican strategy, help me understand strategically that the republican president with the republican congress can sca scapegoat an entire community and how they can pick up votes in that community, i don't understand how anybody can be a chicano or of hispanic descent,

and vote for it. >> proposition that they used to target the latinos, the republicans lost their base in california. >> and haven't recovered yet. >> they haven't recovered yet and i think they will see that in the future. the latinos that did vote for the republican party and voted for president trump are people that voted because of the abortion issue, the catholic church encouraged people not to vote for hillary clinton, because of her position on abortion, and the evangelicals that were doing an aggressive campaign for the republican party. so i think one of the things we have to do is normalize abortion, because for the majority of women in the united states of america, that is a very strong issue that women have to control their reproductive rights, that is a very important issue for you, you can't be liberated if you can't have control over your own

body. >> but you can't see any way that the republican party would get a sizeable piece, a sizeable slice of the hispanic vote in 2020? can you see that? >> well, they have an organization that means free, freedom. and they're doing a lot of work and what they do is they do services like driver's license classes and citizenship classes, kind of trying to woo the latino population to the side. what happened with arpaio, the sheriff in arizona after all the discrimination he did, the racial profiling i think that will turn the tide. and also with the daca students coming out against daca, we have to just do a lot of organizing at the grass roots level to really inform and educate the latino public. >> since you mentioned arpaio, i asked you about the president trump's decision on daca, what does you make of the pardon?

>> well, i think trump is trying to throw a bone and appease his base, i think it's a strategy in some respects that he would be so crass, first of all the man has been convicted. he says he is a law and order president and turns around and pardons somebody who was like -- we could almost say an out and out racist. in the california senate we're trying to pass a bill that would make california a sanctuary state. and they have brought arpaio out to the central valley in california and they're trying to water down the sanctuary state bill to kind of make it irrelevant. so we're all asking governor brown to stand strong and sign a good bill to protect the undocumented people, when they commit a crime and it's a

misdemeanor, when they finish their extensisentence, let them >> you live in the one part of the state of california that voted for donald trump, with all the work that you have done in your career. >> that is why we're there, in the central valley with our foundation, with the organization, we just settled a lawsuit against our current high school because of discrimination and african-american student, suspending them 500 times higher than whites, latinos just for minor offenses and now they have got to have competency training for teachers and change their practices and keep kids in school. this is happening all over in california and central valley, 40% of the school districts that have the highest suspensions and expulsions are in the central valley for the whole state of california. kids are really, really being

damaged, that is why my organization, the foundation, we do it by organizing the parents so we're active in several different school districts and get more and more involved and get more researchers to hire more organizers. >> when you received the presidential medal of freedom from barack obama, a high moment in your life i can only imagine. this tells the beginnings of dolores huerta, how did you get started on the road. >> i met this great human being named fred ross, came to stockton and i was organizing a house meeting and when i found out wow you can make it happen and can actually make the public officials listen to you, bring in the kind of services that people needed to the communities, send policemen to prison for beating mexican-americans, like many kids of color we were always racially profiled just for walking down the street, coming home from a football game and

basketball game and it was always so demeaning. and when i thought wow, we could do something about it and do it by getting people together and taking direct and violent action. i worked in the community service organization as a volunteer, we had things in common about farm workers and left the organization to start the farm worker's union. >> tell me about his legacy, i'll come back to your story in a second but tell me about his legacy and whether or not you think even though tho this day has gotten the respect and recognition he deserves. >> no, i don't think so, cesar only went to the eighth grade, he was always educated, and didn't want recognition for himself. when people said hey, you're the leader of the chicano union, he would say no, i am the president of the farm worker's union. and that was his commitment.

>> for those who were curious as i am, what is your assessment of the way we treat or mal-treat farm workers even today after all of these years. >> we are the only state, and they have the right to organize and disability insurance for farmers. >> california? >> california. >> because all the other states, farm workers don't even have a good worker's comp bill, they don't get their medical bills paid. this is still today the people who feed us throughout the united states and do not have those rights. even in new york state, carrie kennedy, robert kennedy's daughter has been fighting so they can just have a day off a week. and that has been going on for 12 years in new york state and they can't pass it. >> i'm not naive, but what is the opposition to something so simple and so basic. >> i think it's in the documentary, because when cesar

and i sat down he said i wanted to start a union. we were both in our early 30s, and i thought we knew how to organize and could make it happen and build a national union. he said no, we will not have a life time union in our lifetime, because the growers are too rich and powerful and too racists. >> and it's still the case? >> i think it's still the case, because the united farm workers win election and can't get the contracts because the growers fight them tooth and nail and take them to court and are willing to spend tens of thousands to negotiate with their workers and give that money to these guys that fight labor unions and the attorneys and tie them up in court. >> it's a strange question, i wonder what you think, dolores, that t the average american, th person watching this show right now really understands what is at the other end of the great -- the orange, they peel, the apple

they bite into, et cetera, do you think we really understand? is there a connection made between the maltreatment of the workers working to pick that fruit? >> i don't think the people really make that connection, unfortunately, you know, we are so separated in our societies that they don't know how farm workers have to live. >> i only raise it, because as long as that disconnect exists then the reality that you mentioned earlier about them being too rich and too powerful and racist that will go unabated forever, until people realize what they have to go through for that stuff to end up in their supermarket. >> the farmers, being the poorest and the most discriminated were able to beat nixon and reagan, but only after people boycotted, we were able to get them to the bargaining take. and the other big issues are

pesticides, we just had a group of farmers that were poisoned. and one of the groups that were used to poison was one that trump took off the restricted list. everything has to do with chemicals and poisons in our food, and to health and human services and take it out of the epa and take it out of the department of agriculture. that is the only way we can be sure that our food is safe. we have the highest cancer rate of any country in the world here in the united states, and i believe it's because of all the chemicals put in our food. >> what are the challenges? i hear what you just laid out as a powerful and enticing prescription. what are the challenges you face in getting that type of education to the average american voter? >> well, i think people are more sensitive now. i think you know, bringing the

attention to the american public about -- i think people are more right now sensitive to what is happening in our environment. and people i think are thinking a little more about organic food right now. i think we have the sensitivity that is building but we have to do policy changes. one of those changes is -- i'm a vegetarian, so we subsidize the meat industry and the poultry industry. we do not subsidize the farmers who grow fruits and vegetables, for instance, organic food we know is more expensive to buy but if we can get more support for the growers that do grow the organic food, then the price would come down and people would be safer in the terms of the food they eat. another way they can organize is meeting people in their homes, meet with them about an hour and a half and we explain what the issues are, where they tell us the things they want to see

changed and we do a whole series of these meetings and bring people together. we form an organization called united neighbors, they decide they have to prioritize, what changes they want in the community, and make an action plan and volunteer to do the work. you end up volunteering, and this is where you have the leadership that grows in every single community. so we have some communities where the park, or swimming pool, or they pass a bond issue in the middle school. or just have streets with curbs and gutters and sidewalks, our having sewers, et cetera, having these septic tanks that they can have you know sewers and passing bond issues for the schools. it's amazing, every community gets in there and does the work. >> i am fascinated by this. is that kind of door-to-door community organizing skill that works in 2017? >> well, we do both, the house

meeting in people's homes. i call it a tupperware party, and then they do a whole series of it. you get somebody else that will do another one and another one and end up with 150 people. and then from those people there, they form the group and everybody takes on a different issue. for instance in bakersfield, we had our march, we had an lgbt program. and then we have a health program also so people -- i can't remember about the nutrition and exercise -- we have a bunch of bikes donated and people were out there riding bikes. we have a 90-year-old woman riding a bicycle, then do the education, the most important ones to get the parents. we don't go in there and say we want you to change it. we organize the parents, they get organized and then they go to the school board. >> i still believe in the power of organizing.

i'm not still so sure i believe in the power of unions, i hate to confess it to you. i think unions in many ways have allowed themselves to be exploited and used. i just wonder and worry, i'm a union guy, but i worry, dolores, about the future of unions in this country. >> i worry about that, too, but we have to remember there were a lot of laws passed so that unions cannot be effective. for instance, in the great boycott that we had where we were able to go to a store and say to people don't shop at safeway because they're selling grapes, you can't do that any more. that is what you call a secondary boycott and we were very successful doing it but now we can't do it any more. the unions are ham strung by the laws that prevent them. for instance, unions are trying to get a law that says if a worker signs a card and wants the union they have a majority of workers that sign a card that the employee would have to let that union represent the workers, right?

well, they will not do that, they will say you can't do that, what they call a card check. but if your signature is good enough to get married, get a divorce, buy a car, a home, your signature should be good enough to say you want a union to represent you. this is why they're having a hard time because it's a constant push against worker organization. and i think we have to remind people if it were not for labor we wouldn't have an eight-hour day or weekends, social security, we wouldn't have public education. because of all of this, a union is an organization of workers so employers have their organizations, manufacturer's association, the farm bill federation, on and on, so why can't workers have angry organizati -- an organization, it's the only organization that unions use to fight -- >> when you fight all of these years later, how do you sustain

your hope? >> we can see what they achieve, what they're still doing, as long as people are organizing and going forward we are making progress. and i know there are always pushbacks, but you know back in the '60s, it was pretty rough. all the organizations in the green, the gay organizations, the civil rights, immigrant rights group, a lot of us were just organizing then. now we are institutionalized. now we're a lot stronger with devices that you get information quickly and mobilize and gather people. with the protests on like life matters, and what happened in charlottesville, on the muslim ban, we say to them please, that is the important thing. please vote. and we have to get people to run for office like we do with the people that we organize. make sure that we really support progressive candidates. and even get involved in your parties, whether you're a

democrat or republican or green. you know, these are democratic organizations. you can get in there with numbers and take those groups over to make sure that they support progressive candidates. >> what do you hope the takeaway that people will get from watching this documentary, dolores? >> we hope that people will get involved. people sometimes have their private lives, they're working hard to make a living and feed their family and they see this world out there of politics and they don't think that thatis their world. but everybody pays taxes. you know, the president of the united states, donald trump, we pay his salary. your city council person. you know, your school board member. they you know -- we pay all of their salaries so we have a voice and a say into what they are doing and we have to really check it out, pay attention and get involved. and sometimes it's like sending a telegram, an e-mail -- i'm old school. sending an e-mail, you know, like right now we have senate

bill 54 to make it a sanctuary state, so that people who commit a misdemeanor they can be sent over, not to ice -- and right now -- they have -- still have it at the upper levels from sixth grade on, so we want that taken out. you know, teenagers are teenagers, they're going to be defiant, that is what they're supposed to do. so don't kick them out of school because they're dwienefiant. we want to get that bill passed. and progressives, listen to tavis smiley. >> that will get you in trouble. >> you know, find out what is really going on because we need you. we need every single person, if not, donald trump may be reelected if we don't get involved. >> it's -- 2017, by the calendar i'm looking at, all of these

years later, dolores huerta is still on the battlefield and on the front lines of the fight. i've had the honor to travel with her around the country and around the world. i'm just happy to have her on the program, i hope you check out this documentary called "." good to have you. >> you're welcome, and thank you, and check out our website -- >> that is our show tonight, thank you for joining us. as always, keep the faith. for more information visit tavis smiley at pb.org. >> hi, i'm tavis smiley, join me next time with singer david crosby. that is next time. we'll see you then. .

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