Berkeley removes, covers signs honoring Cesar Chavez

Between Wednesday and Thursday, city workers removed a sign bearing Cesar Chavez’s name, and covered up information about him, at a waterfront park. Credit: Tracey Taylor/Berkeleyside

References to Cesar Chavez have been removed and covered up at the West Berkeley park that was named in his honor.

The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to strip the name of the labor leader from the waterfront park after an investigation published last week by The New York Times uncovered allegations that Chavez sexually assaulted women and girls as young as 12. The council also directed its parks division to launch a process to pick a new name for the open space atop a former landfill.

A video posted Thursday by Martin Nicolaus, CEO of the nonprofit known until recently as the Chavez Park Conservancy, showed two men removing a wooden sign that read “Cesar E. Chavez Park.”

References to Chavez have also been covered on a sign below it, including a panel that featured an illustration of him alongside the flag of the United Farm Workers union he co-founded with Dolores Huerta, one of the women who has accused Chavez of sexual assault. Other portions of the sign, such as a park map and list of rules, remained visible — but with Chavez’s name redacted.

A sign with photos and text about Cesar Chavez. Someone has covered images of Chavez and references to him with blue painters tape Images of Chavez on a sign at a “tribute site” honoring him and Dolores Huerta have been covered with painter’s tape. Credit: Tracey Taylor/Berkeleyside

Inside the park, Chavez’s name and depictions of him on signs at a solar calendar, which had been dedicated as a “tribute site” to him and Huerta, were also covered with blue painter’s tape.

Nicolaus’ organization removed Chavez’s name from the heading of its website this week. He wrote in a post Thursday that the group expects to adopt the park’s next name.

The sign honoring Chavez remained in place as of Wednesday. Credit: Tracey Taylor/Berkeleyside

Berkeley removes, covers signs honoring Cesar Chavez

Tags: