Don’t fight till the end, fight to win

The Signal Staff

Discussion Today: Women’s Rights, Only Men Allowed

In the 50s, during a time when women were offered few opportunities short of marriage and raising children, movie makers brought the tale of Esperanza Quintero.

“How shall I begin my story that has no beginning? My name is Esperanza, Esperanza Quintero. I am a miner’s wife. This is our home. The house is not ours. But the flowers, the flowers are ours.”

This simple statement, Esperanza’s opening narration in the documentary “Salt of the Earth,” holds a truth for how life was defined for women not only of her era but for many years to come.

With a great effort by blacklisted Hollywood actors and production crew, this film came to life as a documentary designed to expose the harsh working conditions of the miners in a small New Mexico town.  However, in the telling of this story, the portrayal of the women’s plight becomes of greater importance.

We are provided a look into what was not even recognized at the time as part of the feminist movement. The fact that the women fought for equality alongside the men during the mining strike was courageous in itself, but the power that the women gained in the household was perhaps the most significant detail.

These women were ahead of their time, and because of the boldness expressed by these women a notable power shift in the family structure took place. The women took over the strike and demanded that they be heard and treated with equal respect, leaving the men home in an exchange of roles.

Because the film was written and directed by members of the blacklisted Hollywood Ten and advocated equality between whites and Mexican-Americans, male and female, rich and poor, it was branded as a communist work and its life was short lived.

The film was banned after a short stint in a few remote theaters only to be re-released in the late 60s. It has since enjoyed a life in many women’s studies groups.

Owning little and having control of even less marked the women in this film as Esperanza noted in her opening narration. Inequalities ran rampant in the movie from the lack of hot water and proper plumbing to the unsafe mining conditions. The one thing they did have was their dignity and the ability to stand up for themselves. “Don’t fight till the end, fight to win” becomes an applicable mission statement.

“Salt of the Earth” is a strong tribute to the determination of the Mexican-American women involved in the strike. The intense pride exhibited by the women in creating a community that would restore dignity to the people of the mining towns remains a valuable lesson even as social inequalities still resound in today’s society.