Content warning: sexual violence
Following a New York Times investigation alleging multiple counts of sexual abuse by Cesar Chavez, Berkeley institutions are left to decide how to handle his legacy.
An investigation by The New York Times published Wednesday, March 18 exposed allegations of sexual abuse against Cesar Chavez, co-founder of the United Farm Workers labor union. Chavez, who is widely celebrated and memorialized across California, has been accused of sexually abusing girls, some as young as 12 years old.
“As a city that has long honored the labor movement and its leaders, including through the naming of our treasured waterfront park, the information now coming to light about César Chávez is deeply disturbing and heartbreaking,” said Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii in a press statement Wednesday.
Berkeley District 7 Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra added that the city of Berkeley’s leadership is “reevaluating the ways in which our city currently honors César Chávez.”
In the New York Times piece, UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta also detailed multiple incidents of sexual assault, including an instance in which Chavez raped her. The disclosure of this information has led California institutions to confront his legacy, which spans streets, parks and more throughout the state.
At UC Berkeley, the bust and portrait of Cesar Chavez was removed yesterday in the lobby of the student center named after him. West of campus is Cesar Chavez Park, which holds a solar calendar memorializing him and Huerta. Just a few blocks away, the “Live Without Borders/Vivir Sin Fronteras Mural” features Chavez’s face on the side of grocery store Mi Tierra Foods.
Now, officials must decide what action to take regarding these landmarks and how to honor the UFW union.
Christian Paiz, an associate professor of ethnic studies who focuses on labor movements, said the public as a whole must reevaluate how individual leaders are memorialized.
“A movement should be considered (a) plural collective, trying to grapple with the conditions that they’re facing,” Paiz said. “These heroic portraits of leaders … create the possibility of hiding people’s worst behaviors like abuse … You become reliant on this heroic figure to try to highlight the voices of a population.”
Across different platforms, campus students and faculty have suggested ideas for renaming the Cesar E. Chavez Student Center, and “campus will be initiating a formal review,” according to an email statement by Chancellor Rich Lyons and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Benjamin Hermalin. UC Berkeley has a committee to review building names and separate processes for denaming and renaming buildings. Students, faculty, staff or alumni can all initiate this process through a written proposal.
In response to the allegations against Chavez, the Berkeley Unified School District announced that a “Day of Service and Learning” will happen next week to honor farmworkers instead of the typical commemorative period for Chavez and Huerta that has been celebrated in years past. California lawmakers have moved toward renaming “Cesar Chavez Day,” a federal holiday celebrated March 31, to “Farmworkers Day.”
Additionally, Paiz suggested that institutions also take direct action to support local farm workers and their communities, such as by supporting unionized labor.
“I don’t think any student should ever feel compelled to go into a space named after a man accused of incredibly monstrous behavior,” Paiz said. “We can remember that this was a movement by and for farm workers. … We should start thinking about what (that) actually means.”