Obama: Cesar Chavez still inspires us

Dedicating a new national monument Monday to Cesar Chavez, President Obama said the migrant farmworker who became a civil rights champion continues to inspire those who want to make America "a little more just" and fair for all.

"Our journey is never hopeless," Obama said during the ceremony in Keene, Calif., near Bakersfield. "Our journey is never done."

Obama made only allusions to his ongoing presidential campaign against Republican Mitt Romney, a contest in which the Hispanic vote could prove decisive. (At the start of his speech, a friendly crowd began chanting "Four more years! Four more years!")

The economy is recovering, Obama said at one point, but the deep recession he inherited "is still taking a toll, especially in Latino communities, which already faced higher unemployment and poverty rates."

Obama also said that "too many workers are still being denied basic rights and simple respect.," but added that, "thanks to the strength and character of the American people, we are making progress."

Americans can take heart from the example of Chavez, Obama said, who fought for farmers on such issues as higher wages, safe drinking water, workman's compensation, and pensions, through tactics that included protest marches, boycotts and politics.

"Every time somebody's son or daughter comes and learns about the history of this movement," Obama said, "I want them to know that our journey is never hopeless, our work is never done."

He also said: "Our world is a better place because Cesar Chavez decided to change it. Let us honor his memory. But most importantly, let's live up to his example."

Obama spoke after a tour of the memorial gardens at the monument, which includes Chavez's former home and the headquarters of the United Farm Workers of America.

Accompanied by widow Helen Chavez, Obama laid a single red rose, in full bloom, on Chavez's grave, located within the memorial garden of the complex.

The 187-acre site is known as Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz -- "Our Lady Queen of Peace" -- or, or simply, La Paz.

Said Obama: "Today, La Paz joins a long line of national monuments -- stretching from the Statue of Liberty to the Grand Canyon --monuments that tell the story of who we are as Americans."