After multiple allegations of sexual abuse, a move in the Minnesota House to fasttrack a bill that would repeal the March 31st Cesar Chavez Day in Minnesota.
It's being carried by DFL Representative Maria Isa Perez-Vega, whose own activist mother was one of the first recipients of the Cesar Chavez award in the state.
"Honoring our history does not mean we stop telling the truth about it," said Emilia Avalos, Executive Director of Unidos Minnesota.
The proposal is being carried by DFL Representative Maria Isa Perez-Vega, whose own activist mother was one of the first recipients of the Cesar Chavez award in Minnesota.
"I'm not discrediting the work that my mother has done that our elders have done," says Rep. Perez-Vega. "It's not his movement. It's the movement of, in particularly of the women. And the mothers and the tía's. And we're here standing up for them and our grandmothers who couldn't speak up, and we're here to speak up that our daughters don't have to face this."
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her says they're listening to the community about changing the name of a street named after Chavez.
The founder of a public charter school named after him says they will be changing the name.
"We are repealing Cesar Chavez Day because we have a higher bar, a higher bar for truth," adds Avalos. "A higher bar for accountability, and a higher bar for anyone whose name we choose to elevate, honor, and institutionalize."
Several states, including Minnesota, recognize Cesar Chavez Day coming up on March 31. Speaking to WCCO Radio's Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar last week, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the state should not recognize it in light of the allegations.
"Well, it's in state statute that we need to, and I have put out those proclamations," Walz explained. "I would encourage us not to do so. I think this accountability, we've seen it with Epstein, we've seen it with others, there has got to be accountability. It does not matter who you are. It does not matter what political party you're from. So I would encourage the legislature, it's a state statute issue, but I would encourage them not to do that in light of these just horrific, I guess accusations. But it certainly seems to me that there's folks that believe this happened. So you can't do that. Legislature has to do that."
