Mary Rose Wilcox and her husband were among those who marched and fasted in solidarity with César Chavez. They played a pivotal role in helping him establish a radio station in Phoenix and adorned their Mexican restaurant with photographs and a mural celebrating the revered Latino leader.
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This week, however, Wilcox was left reeling after her daughter informed her of sexual abuse allegations against Chavez. She described the news as a shocking blow.
By Wednesday morning, the couple had removed all of Chavez’s images from their restaurant walls and made arrangements to cover the mural.
“César Chavez was someone we deeply admired. But now, we can no longer honor him or hold him in the same regard,” expressed the former Phoenix City Council member.
Like Wilcox, many others are grappling with reconciling the legacy of a man known for championing farmworkers’ rights with the startling allegations of sexual abuse involving young girls and United Farm Workers of America co-founder Dolores Huerta.
Latino leaders and community groups quickly condemned the alleged abuse by Chavez but emphasized that the farmworker movement was never just about a single man. Chavez died in California in 1993 at age 66.
There were calls to alter memorials honoring the man who in the 1960s helped secure better wages and working conditions for farmworkers and has been long revered by many Democratic leaders in the U.S. The California Museum said it will remove Chavez from the state’s Hall of Fame – something it’s never done before.
Some local and state leaders in both parties urged their communities not to celebrate Chavez’s birthday on March 31, and to rename buildings and streets named for him. Celebrations of Chavez in Texas and in his home state of Arizona have been canceled at the request of the Cesar Chavez Foundation.
In California, legislative leaders announced Thursday they are going to rename César Chavez Day as Farmworkers Day in light of the allegations.
California was the first state to designate Chavez’s birthday as a day to honor the civil rights leader nearly 30 years ago. In 2000, the Legislature passed a bill to make it an official paid day off for state employees and require the state to start teaching students about his legacy and his involvement in the labor movement in California.
Many other California workers are given the day off.
Dolores Huerta stamped her own legacy on the fight for justice
Huerta, who is a labor rights legend in her own right, said in a statement released Wednesday that she stayed silent for 60 years for fear her words could hurt the farmworker movement. She said she did not know Chavez had hurt other women.
Huerta described two sexual encounters with Chavez; one in which she was “manipulated and pressured” and another when she was “forced against my will.” She said both led to pregnancies, which she kept secret, and that she arranged for the children to be raised by other families.
She joined Chavez in 1962 to co-found the National Farm Workers Association, which became the United Farm Workers of America. For many, they were akin to Martin Luther King. Jr. and Rosa Parks because of their work advocating for racial equality and civil rights.
Huerta’s resolve and dedication to civil rights, women’s rights and social justice won wide admiration. Some, including a group of Democrats in Texas, are calling for Huerta’s name to replace Chavez’s on places that bear his name.
The New York Times first reported Wednesday that it found Chavez groomed and sexually abused young girls who worked in the movement. Huerta, too, revealed to the newspaper that she was a victim of the abuse in her 30s.
Some knew about Chavez’s abusive behavior, biographer says
Chavez is known nationally for his early organizing in the fields, a hunger strike, a grape boycott and eventual victory in getting growers to negotiate with farmworkers for better wages and working conditions.
Streets, schools and parks across the Southwest bear Chavez’s name. California became the first state to commemorate his birthday, and in 2014, then-President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31 César Chavez Day. President Joe Biden had a bronze bust of Chavez installed in the Oval Office when he moved into the White House.
Biden and Obama have not yet commented on the allegations. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was still processing the news.
Chavez was full of contradictions even as a union leader, said Miriam Pawel, a California journalist who wrote a biography of him. There was abusive behaviors within the union, but people didn’t speak out because they believed the union was the best way to protect farmworkers, she said.
“For many, many years, for most of those people, even when they saw things that they found disturbing, they did not wanna talk about it,” Pawel said.
Chavez’s family and foundation voice support for the victims
Born in Yuma, Arizona, Chavez grew up in a Mexican American family that traveled around California picking lettuce, grapes, cotton and other seasonal crops.
Chavez’s family said in a statement that they are devastated by the allegations.
“We wish peace and healing to the survivors and commend their courage to come forward. As a family steeped in the values of equity and justice, we honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual abuse,” the family said.
The Cesar Chavez Foundation pledged support for the labor leader’s victims, saying – with the Chavez family’s support – the organization will figure out its identity going forward.
The United Farm Workers union quickly distanced itself from annual celebrations of its founder, calling the allegations troubling.
Wilcox, the former Phoenix council member, said Chavez helped people understand the value of workers at all levels.
“There’s two things: Chavez the man and Chavez the man who we didn’t know,” she said. “And the one we knew, we knew the good things he did and the things we saw put in place. … And the one we did not know is like a monster.”
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