Cesar Chavez sexual abuse revelations reverberate across California

I’m CalMatters reporter Adam Echelman and I’m filling in for Lynn today.

Multiple women, including Dolores Huerta, have said they were sexually assaulted by California icon Cesar Chavez.

The abuse detailed by these women came out in a New York Times investigation published on Wednesday. Two of the women were children at the time of the abuse. Huerta, who co-led the United Farm Workers union with Chavez, said he pressured her into having sex with him and later raped her, resulting in the birth of two children.

The news ricocheted across California, where Chavez’s name is emblazoned on dozens of schools, streets and parks and whose legacy is taught as part of the state’s official curriculum. Cesar Chavez Day, an official California state holiday and federal commemorative holiday, is celebrated on March 31 each year.

The state Department of Education said it will update its history and social studies curriculum, where students are currently taught about Chavez in grades four, nine and eleven. Teachers adapt their lessons in real time, writes CalMatters’ Carolyn Jones.

To change the name of the upcoming holiday, the Legislature would need to quickly draft a bill and get Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign it. MP Alexandra M. MacedoRepublican from Visalia, introduced a bill to rename it Farmworker Day.

Asked about renaming the holiday altogether, Newsom said he was open to the idea but needed time to get over the “shock” of the revelations.

• Governor Newsom: “How many days I’ve marched, how many times I’ve been with students talking about the movement, how many pictures I have in my home of Bobby Kennedy and Cesar Chavez. It was hard for me to take that in.”

San Diego officials may rename César Chávez Parkway, Sacramento leaders discuss updates to César Chávez Plaza, and San Francisco organizers say they’ve already renamed their upcoming parade in honor of Huertanot Chavez. Fresno State has covered its Cesar Chavez statue in black cloth, and the president said the statue will soon to be removed.

The revelations hit Kern County particularly hard. Chavez helped found his labor movement in the small town of Delano and later helped oversee its operations in Keene, now home to the federally recognized Cesar E. Chavez National Monument. Last summer, community members pushed for Bakersfield to honor farmworkers by renaming a downtown street in Chavez’s honor. The city council end this discussion on Wednesday.

CalMatters has more here.