Swift and widespread, efforts to rebrand César Chavez Day are fueled by emotion and duty

From California to Minnesota, elected leaders and civil rights groups are scrambling to distance themselves from César Chavez’s name in the wake of allegations that he sexually abused women and girls during the 1960s as he became the face of the farmworkers’ movement.

Efforts have been swift and widespread to rebrand events ahead of what typically was a day to celebrate the life and legacy of the Latino rights advocate on his birthday, March 31.

In Tucson, Arizona, last weekend’s celebration was instead billed as a community and labor fair. In Grand Junction, Colorado, it’s now the Sí, Se Puede Celebration. El Paso, Texas, will mark Tuesday as Community and Labor Heritage Day.

Lawmakers in Minnesota voted this week to end the César Chavez holiday in their state, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed a bill to rename César Chavez Day as Farmworkers Day. In Colorado, lawmakers were considering a bill to rename the voluntary state holiday there to Farm Workers Day.

Renaming efforts also are underway for dozens of schools, streets and other locations across the United States that are named for Chavez, including the national monument in Keene, California.

The resulting conversations have been anything but easy as supporters grapple with conflicted feelings while sorting out how best to honor what was a pivotal labor and civil rights effort in the United States.

A betrayal

Feelings of disappointment, disbelief and even anger have made for an emotional cocktail for those charting the path forward.

The New York Times recently reported that it found César Chavez groomed and sexually abused young girls who worked in the movement. The movement’s co-founder, Dolores Huerta, also revealed that she was a victim of the abuse in her 30s.

“It was a personal hurt and a betrayal,” said Jose Luis Chavez, founder and president of the committee that has organized the César Chavez Celebration for Mesa County, Colorado, for the past decade. The committee is made up of people who have worked in the agricultural industry and whose grandparents and parents cut grapes and picked peaches.

“I think that’s what my committee was feeling, and I think when we look at our community here, that is what people are still feeling,” said Jose Luis Chavez, who is not related to the famous civil rights leader. “They’re feeling a lot of hurt and a lot anger.”

Born from a desire to educate students about marginalized communities, the annual celebration in Grand Junction has evolved into a gathering with music, food, classic cars and high school students taking the stage to accept scholarships.

Canceling it simply wasn’t an option, Jose Luis Chavez said.

The logo was adjusted to include the words “Sí, se puede” — the rallying cry coined by Huerta that translates as “Yes, it can be done.” A flurry of social media posts let people know the event would go on under a new name.

Finding a broader focus

The annual César Chavez and Dolores Huerta March and Rally in Tucson was scaled back and rebranded. There was no march or car show last weekend and it was billed instead as the Comunidad y Labor Unity Fair, focusing more broadly on labor rights without mentioning Chavez.

Organizers with the Arizona César E. Chávez + Dolores Huerta Holiday Coalition encouraged supporters of the movement to continue showing up for one another.

“Even when we thought about canceling, we chose to keep going, because this movement is bigger than a name or one person,” the group said in a social media post. “No single individual defines it. … We, the working people, do.”

It’s a chorus that has resonated loudly and consistently since the allegations became public. While there have been calls in Texas and elsewhere to remove the holiday altogether, the groups that are pushing ahead are driven by a sense of duty to the overall legacy of the movement.

Sehila Mota Casper, executive director of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, said the outcome will be different for every community.

“It’s due process that’s needed to help grapple with this,” she said. “I think that’s the best resolution that each community will have to decide for themselves, how it is that they land on a decision that best reflects their community and their values.”

A time for listening

The annual march in Albuquerque was canceled long before the news broke and for unrelated reasons, but New Mexico’s largest city is just beginning the process of sorting out name changes for roads and other public spaces.

It’s a complex process that will take time and involve public outreach, said City Councilor Joaquín Baca, whose district includes roads named after both César Chavez and Huerta. Even Baca and his family still are contemplating the fate of a César Chavez and Dolores Huerta poster that hangs in their home.

The emails, phone calls and text messages that have poured in to city leaders include demands that everything related to César Chavez be torn down, as well as requests that a broader brush be used to recognize the rights of farmworkers and other laborers, Baca said.

“It’s every side on every issue within the context of this,” he said. “So for me, it has been a lot of listening at this point.”

Mota Casper, who has built a career in heritage tourism and historic preservation, said it’s a chance for elected leaders and policymakers to pause and consider expanding the narrative around Chavez’s legacy. She said society has a responsibility to tell “that full story,” understanding that humans are complex and fallible.

“So in commemorating or glorifying them, we have to be able to acknowledge the good and the bad and take that as it comes … but also understand that we can’t gloss over history,” she said. “We can’t simplify it just to make it easy. We have to be able to talk about it.”