Organizers across the state have canceled upcoming events meant to honor the late labor leader Cesar Chavez after shocking allegations of rape and sexual assault were published by the New York Times. The accusers include Delores Huerta herself, who co-founded United Farm Workers (UFW) with Chavez in 1962. For the first time, Huerta says Chavez sexually violated her on multiple occasions, resulting in two pregnancies.
Other women have similar stories of sexual assault. One accuser claims she was only 12 years old when the abuse began.
The condemnation from organized labor and Latino advocacy groups was swift. UFW called the allegations “profoundly shocking.” It has canceled all Cesar Chavez Day events nationwide.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus vowed to hold the once revered leader accountable in death, stating: “We cannot celebrate a man, regardless of his accomplishments, who harmed women and children in such vile ways.”
State, local, and school leaders have also responded.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is expected to sign a proclamation on Thursday renaming Cesar Chavez Day to Farm Workers Day.
Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias will introduce a motion to rename Cesar Chavez Boulevard, while Bakersfield is ending its efforts to rename H street after Chavez.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said the city will engage the community on options to rename a local park and elementary school.
Changes are coming to Berkeley as well.
“While we can’t formally take action on this until the Berkeley City Council meets, I’m confident our city will move swiftly to respond,” Councilmember Brent Blackaby told Berkeleyside. “We have zero tolerance for abuse and will not continue to honor a perpetrator of sexual violence.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District said it is reviewing its curriculum and materials to ensure emphasis is placed on the farmworker movement itself, and not on Chavez. Over 30 school districts across the state have schools named after him.
Cal State Bakersfield is home to the Cesar Chavez Foundation. The school’s chancellor addressed the controversy Wednesday.
“As a significant historical figure, his legacy is honored in various ways across CSU universities, including through statues, murals and building names,” a statement from the chancellor’s office reads. “At the same time, the CSU is firmly committed to fostering university environments centered on respect, integrity and the safety and dignity of all members of our campus communities. We are carefully reviewing this information and considering appropriate courses of action.”
Meanwhile, a statue of Chavez at Fresno State University has been covered with a black sheet.
The allegations against Chavez are part of a larger shift that began with the #MeToo movement in 2017. Conduct that once went unspoken within families and workplaces is now more likely to be brought into the open, forcing institutions to grapple with uncomfortable and sometimes painful truths. In the case of Chavez, the repercussions could be both emotionally and financially costly. But many argue the reckoning is necessary to uphold the values that the farmworker movement was built upon.