Chicago-area supporters of longtime civil rights leader César Chavez, a Latino icon publicly celebrated in much of the city, expressed anger, shock and dismay over allegations that he sexually abused women and girls as he led the movement for farmworker rights in the 1960s and ‘70s.
An investigation by the New York Times released Wednesday found that Chavez groomed and sexually abused young girls who worked in the movement, including fellow leader Dolores Huerta, who was in her 30s at the time.
In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said she stayed silent for 60 years out of concern that her words would hurt the farmworker movement.
Chavez, who died in 1993, has long been revered in the Latino and labor strongholds of the Chicago area. Now, there are some calls nationally to change events, memorials and public artworks created in his honor.
In Chicago alone, there is a public elementary school, a plaque at the Haymarket Memorial in the West Loop, and murals of him stretching from Southport to Little Village, among other examples.
Huerta, who is a labor rights legend in her own right, joined Chavez in 1962 to co-found the National Farm Workers Association, which became the United Farm Workers of America. Huerta described two sexual encounters with Chavez, one in which she was “manipulated and pressured” and another where she was “forced against my will.”
Angela Anderson Guerrero, president and CEO of Mujeres Latinas en Accion, a Pilsen-based organization for Latina survivors founded in 1973, said while she is feeling deep sadness and disappointment, she is standing with Huerta and the other women who are now speaking out.
“It took over 60 years for the truth to come out, and hopefully this will be a moment that it doesn’t have to take another 60 years for us to hold people who are abusers accountable,” Anderson Guerrero said. “We believe Dolores. We believe the survivors coming forward in the New York Times. Their truth doesn’t change history. It just demands [of] us a future where no one is too important to be held accountable.”
In the 1990s, a bridge on Columbus Drive in East Chicago, Indiana, a city where half the residents are Latino and where Chavez visited, was also named in his honor. But now, Jesse Gomez, who introduced the original resolution to rename the bridge is having second thoughts.
“In light of these accusations and in the current climate, I’m concerned that we are overlooking his accusations for all the good work he did publicly. Now that this has come to light, protection of females should merit reversal of that naming,” Gomez said.
In a statement, Chicago Public Schools said it has not received a request to change the name of the César E. Chavez Multicultural Academic Center in Back of the Yards. But some educators were grappling with the revelations.
Rosa Jimenez-Hernandez, a bilingual instructor at Sadlowski Elementary at 3930 E. 105th St. on the East Side said the news about Chavez “really, really hurts.”
In a statement posted to her Facebook page, Jimenez-Hernandez wrote: “He has been a heroic figure in my life — and in my teachings — for so long. I literally have a book about his life on display in my classroom year-round. It’s called ‘Harvesting Hope.’ I read it with every class in September, and we refer back to him and his story all year long.”
Referring to the famous rallying cry of the United Farm Workers of America, she added, “We chant ‘Si Se Puede’ together in his honor thanks to an online video lesson about him and his fight that I assign through an e-learning platform. Students love this lesson. It makes them proud to be brown. It made me proud too. That’s ALL over now.”
On Wednesday, several Chicago Latino officials echoed that sentiment and released statements expressing support for the women.
“I unequivocally stand with all the survivors of César Chavez’s abuse and am committed to building a world where sexual violence, sexual harassment, and sexual exploitation are eradicated, and those who perpetrate these injustices are held accountable,” U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez said.
U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia said the survivors who have come forward to talk about Chavez have shown courage by telling their stories. “It’s difficult and painful to see someone you respected and trusted as a leader revealed in this way. It feels like a betrayal, and abusers, at any level, should be held accountable.”
40th Ward Ald. Andre Vazquez said there is no legacy worth preserving if it depends on sacrificing the humanity of someone else.
“César Chavez is one man. Any effort to boil down the farmworkers’ movements — much less the Latino workers’ rights movement as a whole — to one man does a disservice to all of the people who have fought to protect the rights and dignity of their fellow workers: people like Dolores Huerta, Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas, among many others, ” Vazquez said.
Huerta said she did not know that Chavez hurt other women and condemned his actions but emphasized that the farmworker movement is bigger than one person.
“César’s actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people,” she said. “We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever.”
Southeast Side community activist Anthony Martinez, a member of the group known as the Brown Berets, an offshoot of the Black Panther Party, said he met Huerta on a few occasions at political rallies. Martinez, 46, supports Huerta coming forward.
“She actually was the one who did more, but back in the [day] you had the man take the lead in order to be heard. They let César Chavez take the lead,” Martinez said. “I really don’t want to put her at fault for coming out late about this.”
Anderson Guerrero said the focus needs to remain on the survivors, not Chavez.
“We need to ... allow them time to process and reflect on what this means to them, what it means to their memories of being a part of a movement, and give them the space to be creative and decide what they want the future to look like,” she said. “Whether that’s lifting up Dolores Huerta and her legacy, whether that’s taking down murals, or maybe it’s sort of creating other opportunities that are not yet in our imagination.”
Araceli Gómez-Aldana and the Associated Press contributing.