Today's newscast is a special episode about the fallout from the sexual assault allegations against César Chávez.
Local residents and public officials respond
March 31 is a state holiday. In the two weeks since The New York Times published sexual assault allegations against César Chávez, the day has been renamed to honor farmworkers instead of him.
A Salinas resident named Margaret called into KQED’s Forum show. She questioned rushing to scrub Chávez’s name, when the same hasn’t happened for others accused of crimes.
"We as a culture, and here in California, maybe because it's an election year, are quick to tear down a legacy that is going to destroy a whole Latino coalition," Margaret said.
Others asked why Chávez’s United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta and other women are only now speaking up.
"I can completely understand why somebody would not come forward," said Leann Luna, CEO of Monarch Services, which supports survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
Luna says many feel shame around disclosing what happened, and that ratchets up when the accused has power.
Huerta said she kept her secret for decades to protect the farmworker movement. But Luna says no longer lionizing Chávez doesn’t undermine the collective work.
"It doesn’t take away from all of the other people who were part of this movement, who impacted it in a positive way, who moved it forward, who continue to advocate and fight for farmworker rights," she said.
Monterey and Santa Cruz counties will remove references to Chávez. But Santa Cruz County Supervisor Monica Martinez said last week that it’s also important "that we as leaders work to dismantle the systems and the structures that allow this type of abuse to continue to happen in secret."
March 31 is now Farmworkers Day in California. In Monterey County, the holiday is Farmworker Appreciation Day.
Challenges facing farmworkers today, and the legacy of the UFW
It’s been more than 50 years since César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and several Filipino labor organizers helped secure collective bargaining rights and safety guarantees for farmworkers.
Laws exist today that may have never come to fruition without that movement.
Ricardo Nuñez provides immigration services for the United Farm Workers Foundation in Salinas.
He says the recent, shocking revelations about Chávez’s history of sexual assault go against everything the UFW stands for and are even more of a reason to support farmworkers.
"We’re here and we will be here," he said.
But even beyond the recent news, Chávez’s legacy is mixed.
"Honestly, César Chávez was not really somebody that I really looked up to a lot because of his history against undocumented farm workers," said Yesica Guzman Rodriguez, lead organizer in Monterey County for the Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño.
She says Chávez’s strategy of fighting for farmworkers with legal status while sidelining those without contributed to the challenges facing undocumented farmworkers today.
"It shouldn't have been local resident farmworkers against undocumented farm workers," Guzman Rodriguez said. " If it had been a more united front… I think it would've helped advance the farmworker movement for everybody."
The UFW played a key role in passing overtime pay laws and mandating clean water and restrooms at work sites. But Guzman Rodriguez says ensuring those laws are actually enforced remains a challenge.
"The laws that are in the books are not the laws that are really being followed in the fields," she said.
More oversight is necessary to ensure the rights of all farmworkers are respected, Guzman Rodriguez says.
KAZU's Katie Brown contributed to this story.
