(Credit: Los Angeles Times/UCLA Digital Library/Wikimedia Commons)
The city of Bakersfield has officially announced that they have decided to call off plans to rename H Street after labor leader César Chávez following sexual abuse allegations.
In August, there was a proposal to rename the street, which passed in a Bakersfield City Council vote to honor César Chávez, the civil rights leader known for his tireless advocacy on behalf of farmworkers, especially Latino and migrant laborers, across the United States.
The statement that was released today by spokesperson Joe Conroy explained the city’s decision to terminate the street renaming.
“The City of Bakersfield has become aware of allegations regarding César Chávez during his time as the President of the United Farmworkers of America. In light of these allegations, the City will be terminating efforts to rename a street for César Chávez.”
On Tuesday the United Farm Workers and the César Chávez Foundation said they will abstain from celebrations honoring the late labor leader, citing “disturbing allegations” that involve the possible victimization of “very young women or girls.”
A New York Times investigation published today contains allegations that Chávez abused girls as young as 12 years old. Civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers Union with Chávez, also told the Times that he sexually assaulted her.
“I am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for,” Huerta said in a statement. “As a young mother in the 1960s, I experienced two separate sexual encounters with Cesar. The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to. The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.”