Activists Call For Cesar Chavez's Name To Be Stripped

On Wednesday, a New York Times investigation revealed the shocking news that famed labor leader Cesar Chavez, who has been memorialized as an iconic civil rights activist since his death in 1993, has been accused of raping and sexually abusing two underage girls in the 1970s, and sexually assaulting fellow iconic activist and farmworker leader Dolores Huerta in the 1960s. Now, activists, community members, and political leaders from both parties are immediately calling for Chavez’ name to be removed from schools, parks, streets, and buildings across California and elsewhere, as well as the boycotting or renaming of holidays celebrated in his honor.

In a statement to ABC News, Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Chavez, said Wednesday that she was “manipulated and pressured into having sex” with her late colleague, and that she’s breaking her silence now, largely because the report by the Times “indicated that I was not the only one – there were others.”

“I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences,” Huerta said.

Here’s what the Times published about Chavez’s other alleged victims:

Ana Murguia remembers the day the man she had regarded as a hero called her house and summoned her to see him. She walked along a dirt trail, entered the rundown building, passed his secretary and stepped into his office.

He locked the door, as he always did when he called her, and told her how lonely he had been. He brought her onto the yoga mat that he often used in his office for meditation, kissed her and pulled her pants down. “Don’t tell anyone,” he told her afterward. “They’d get jealous.”

The man, Cesar Chavez, one of the most revered figures in the Latino civil rights movement, was 45. She was 13. Ms. Murguia said she was summoned for sexual encounters with him dozens of times over the next four years.

Recently, more than 50 years later, Ms. Murguia learned that a street near her home in the Central California city of Bakersfield was in the process of being renamed. City officials want to name it in honor of her abuser.

Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

Ms. Murguia and another woman, Debra Rojas, say that Mr. Chavez sexually abused them for years when they were girls, from around 1972 to 1977. He was in his 40s and had become a powerful, charismatic figure who captured global attention as a champion of farmworker rights.

Gov. Gavin Newsome spoke on the allegations against Chavez during a Wednesday press conference, saying, “We’re just, I think all of us are processing it…We’re for justice.

“We’re for the truth. We’re for transparency. We want to have the backs of our victims, but it’s a sensitive, sensitive moment,” he continued.

Later, he indicated that he would consider renaming Cesar Chavez Day, saying that while no decisions have been made at the state level, there is a sense of urgency in his office and at the state level as the March 31 holiday approaches.

“If we need to move, we’ll do so together,” Newsom said, referring to the state Legislature.

Meanwhile, even Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a political rival of Newsome, is on board with ditching the holiday altogether.

“The state of Texas will not observe the Cesar Chavez Day holiday,” Abbott tweeted Wednesday. “I am directing all Texas state agency heads to comply. In the upcoming legislative session, I will work with Texas lawmakers to remove Cesar Chavez Day from state law altogether.”

Newsome and Abbott aren’t the only examples of Republicans and Democrats seemingly coming together on an issue, a rare occurrence in today’s MAGA-influenced political landscape.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Many officials expressed a desire to continue honoring the wider farmworker labor movement, even while minimizing Chavez as an individual figure. State Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) and Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare) said they were already working on legislation to rename the holiday to “Farmworkers Day” — a concept also pushed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn.

Los Angeles city officials said they, too, were discussing what to do about the upcoming holiday and future events to honor Chavez.

“Real progress requires more than moments of reckoning – it demands sustained action to dismantle social, cultural, economic, and political structures that have hurt women throughout our history,” Mayor Karen Bass said. “Mr. Chavez’s crimes do not diminish the courage of farm workers and workers everywhere who fight for their rights, equality for Latinos, and a stronger nation for everyone.”

Again, though, the holidays in Chavez’s honor aren’t the only issue; there’s also the schools, streets, and other public facilities that bear his name.

The LA Times reported that California Rising founder Raul Claros stood near the intersection of where Sunset Boulevard becomes Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, when he called on city officials and elected officials to change the road’s name “as soon as possible.” Carlos’ organization also launched a Change.org petition to gather signatures to support renaming it Dolores Huerta Avenue.

“We’re demanding the city of Los Angeles to show leadership, for our school district, our state legislators and our federal partners join us in this movement,” he said.

“We know in the Latino community, a lot of this abuse has been tolerated for generations. In our culture, we’re told to stay quiet,” Carlos added. “That stops now.”

Officials such as L.A. City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado also called for “the renaming of all public locations and events that bear his name, as we prioritize accountability and stand with those who have been harmed.”

Central Valley, Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias said he advocates for a name change for the Cesar Chavez Boulevard in his local district as well.

“Public streets and building names are meant to honor individuals who uplifted our community and represented its highest values,” he wrote in a social media post, according to the Times. “Given what we now know, Cesar Chavez’s actions do not meet that standard, and we have a responsibility to act accordingly.”

While it’s not immediately clear how soon, if ever, Chavez’s name will be scrubbed from any and everything that once honored him, it’s clear his legacy will never be viewed the same way from here on out.

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Activists And Elected Officials Call For Cesar Chavez's Name To Be Stripped was originally published on newsone.com