Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of anti-gay bias.

The Bracero Program was a program that ran from 1942 to 1964 that granted Mexican agricultural laborers temporary work permits to work seasonally in the United States. The related term “bracero” is used to describe temporary agricultural workers who come to work in the United States, like Rigoberto’s maternal grandfather did before marrying. Rigoberto González notes that his family’s home state of Michoacán has been the largest exporter of labor to the United States since the beginning of the Bracero program.

César Chávez (1927-1993) was a Chicano agricultural labor leader. He was a co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, which later joined with another union to become the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union. Chávez and the UFW organized many successful labor strikes and boycotts to improve working conditions for Chicano agricultural laborers, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. Rigoberto describes approvingly how his mother took part in the UFW, but he also notes how the strikes and labor disruptions led to a work shortage and financial difficulties for his family.