He Showed Us The Way Summary

In his article "He showed us the way" (1978), Cesar Chavez, a life-changing civil rights activist, urges his audience "to recall the principles" behind "our struggle." He sheds light on this social position by juxtaposing the effectiveness of nonviolence against oppression ( "provides the opportunity...to win any contest") and the effectiveness of violence against oppression ( "either the violence...total demoralization of the workers"), and by his use of cause and effect he is able to convey the various outcomes each decision may result in ( "When victory...victory with strings attached") and reveal his underlying message. The author emphasizes this outlook in order to dismay those who follow the civil rights movement from forgetting the true
Chavez's decision to refer to it as a "contest," suggests an underlying tone of frustration or sarcasm as people have only absorbed the idea that nonviolence is the better option and not its principles. Chavez is essentially saying, "We choose nonviolence only because we have been told to, because it is seen as an advantage, not because of the fact we are fully committed to the demonstration of nonviolence and all of its principles." Chavez's use of mostly surface level associations of the differences between nonviolence and violence further emphasizes this point. Chavez's decision to use juxtaposition in order to reveal why we actually choose nonviolence over violence when fighting against oppression, forces the reader to reflect, which effectively sends a wake-up call to civil rights supporters everywhere. Building off the strategy Chavez used to begin, he further explains how the way we decide to approach an issue can result in various outcomes through his use of cause and effect. In line 35, Chavez states, "if we are committed to nonviolence only as a strategy" then upon its failure the only option will be "to turn to