Chávez celebrations halted nationwide as allegations reshape legacy
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
Efforts to strike or rename events honoring United Farm Workers leader César Chávez are accelerating days after allegations surfaced that he sexually abused girls and young women.
Why it matters: The repercussions are coming quick, forcing a reckoning within the union and reshaping the legacy of one of the nation's best-known farm labor leaders.
State of play: A handful of states observe Chávez's birthday as an annual holiday on March 31, but governors and locales are pushing to rename or nix the day altogether.
- Parades and marches nationwide are being cancelled, and the union says it won't participate in any events bearing their founder's name.
By the numbers: Over 130 locations or objects in at least 19 states are named after the labor leader, including a Navy cargo ship and a National Monument, per the Associated Press.
- Some officials are considering rebranding those spaces and terminating plans to construct new projects.
Catch up quick: Allegations emerged this week that Chávez wielded his influence to coerce women and girls — including one as young as 12 — into performing sexual acts with him.
- Dolores Huerta, a UFW co-founder and one of Chávez's survivors, said she kept the abuse secret for 60 years because she didn't want to tarnish the union's reputation as it achieved measurable gains for farmworkers' lives.
Zoom in: California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he'll back a push to rename César Chávez Day to Farmworkers Day.
- Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson won't issue a proclamation honoring Chávez this year. Instead, he "looks forward" to celebrating Dolores Huerta Day on April 10.
- Chávez Day won't be celebrated in Texas or in his home state of Arizona, Govs. Greg Abbott and Katie Hobbs announced.
- Representatives of former President Obama, who proclaimed César Chávez Day in 2014, did not respond to Axios' requests for comment.
What they're saying: "We have always recognized that any honor for Cesar Chavez the leader was also for the countless individuals who worked to build the farmworker movement," the Chávez family said in a statement provided to Axios by the UFW Foundation.
- "The movement has always been bigger than one person."
What we're watching: Some officials are now considering elevating Huerta and other central figures who received less attention but played key organizing roles in the movement.
Go deeper: César Chávez allegations spark reckoning over legacy - Axios San Antonio
