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The Phoenix City Council is expected to discuss taking Cesar Chavez’s name off public buildings and renaming the public holiday in his honor at next week’s meeting after a bombshell report revealed allegations of sexual abuse — including against children — by the beloved farmworker movement leader, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego’s office announced on Wednesday.
“What we’ve learned about Chavez’s behavior is shocking and appalling, and he does not embody the values of our city,” Gallego said in a statement. “We have a duty to honor the dignity of the survivors and move forward in a way that reflects our values.”
The report, first published by the New York Times, details years of allegations of sexual abuse by Chavez. Among the people to come forward about the abuse was 96-year-old civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, who also published a statement on Medium about two sexual assaults she experienced with Chavez that both resulted in pregnancies.
“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work,” Huerta wrote.
In a letter to the city manager, Gallego and Phoenix councilmembers Laura Pastor and Betty Guardado requested that a discussion of renaming the upcoming March 31 holiday from Cesar Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day be added to the next city council meeting agenda. They also requested that the council discuss beginning the process of renaming all public buildings and streets dedicated to him. They said the council must go through this process out of respect for the victims.
“No acknowledgement or public action can undo that harm, but we must ensure that their experiences are not overlooked or minimized,” Gallego, Pastor and Guardado wrote.
The Phoenix lawmakers aren’t alone in their condemnation of Chavez.
Arizona Governor Kate Hobbs’ office announced it would not recognize the holiday this year and the UFW Foundation, a nonprofit founded to continue Chavez’s work, cancelled all of their planned activities for the day. Tucson Rep. Adelita S. Grijalva came out in support of the survivors of the abuse, acknowledging what she called the “betrayal of trust” that is “difficult to comprehend.”
“To the survivors: estamos con ustedes – we are with you. We hear you, we believe you, and we admire the immense courage it takes to speak out,” Grijalva’s statement reads. “El movimiento has always been rooted in justice, and justice demands that survivors are supported and heard. I stand with them unequivocally.”
Other Valley cities have also cancelled and renamed Chavez-associated events, or have announced their intention to consider doing so.
