{"id":227957,"date":"2026-03-20T03:47:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T03:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/227957\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T03:47:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T03:47:32","slug":"san-jose-councilman-to-propose-plan-to-rename-cesar-chavez-landmarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/227957\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose councilman to propose plan to rename Cesar Chavez landmarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE \u2014 A San Jose City Councilman on Thursday announced plans to propose renaming historical landmarks in the city named after Cesar Chavez<\/a>, following the news of the late labor leader\u2019s alleged sexual abuse of women and girls.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Latino community is very much in shock right now, as well as the greater farmworker community,\u201d Peter Ortiz, the councilman who represents San Jose\u2019s East Side district, said in an interview at a news conference Thursday evening at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. \u201cWhat happened is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ortiz said he is proposing a memo to the city\u2019s Rules and Open Government Committee alongside San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan next Wednesday, suggesting that city officials gather feedback from community members about whether they would like to rename historical sites around the city that carry Chavez\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

\u201cI, like many young Chicano men, especially in community activism \u2014 we looked up to Cesar Chavez. That was the person that we idolized and who we wanted to be,\u201d Ortiz said. But now, with alleged survivors of Chavez\u2019s sexual abuse speaking out, Ortiz said, \u201cI can\u2019t stand by that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the alleged survivors who recently spoke out is Dolores Huerta,<\/a> the co-founder of the former National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers of America. Huerta claimed earlier this week that Chavez twice \u201cmanipulated and pressured\u201d and \u201cforced\u201d her against her will to have sex with him, resulting in two pregnancies. She reportedly gave both of her sons born out of the encounters to other families who raised them.<\/p>\n

A New York Times report released this week revealed that Chavez groomed and sexually abused women and young girls who participated in the farmworkers civil rights movement throughout the 1960s. Huerta said she was not aware of the allegations against him prior to this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community is heartbroken,\u201d Ortiz said.<\/p>\n

This news comes as San Jose officials and others throughout the country push to erase and remove Chavez\u2019s name from the upcoming holiday honoring his legacy and that of the farmworkers\u2019 movement.<\/p>\n

Other community leaders spoke at the Mexican Heritage Plaza on Thursday to condemn the allegations against Chavez, who died in 2013, and urge community members to work together to heal.<\/p>\n

Adriana Caldera Boroffice, CEO of the YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley rape crisis center, called the allegations \u201cpainful\u201d and \u201cdisturbing.\u201d She called on people to \u201crespond with clarity, integrity and courage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, we must say plainly: We believe survivors. We believe those who have come forward after years, even decades, of silence,\u201d she said. \u201cToday we say clearly and without hesitation: we stand with and believe Dolores Huerta and all survivors who have carried these stories for far too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica Paz-Cedillos, chief executive officer of the Mexican Heritage Plaza, acknowledged that \u201cthe farmworker\u2019s movement transformed lives. It created a pathway from powerlessness to collective voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, she said, \u201cat the same time, we are confronting firsthand accounts of harm that cannot be ignored or minimized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paz-Cedillos pointed out that Chavez had a long history in San Jose, noting that he spent some of his early formative years living in the city\u2019s Mayfair neighborhood. She said that the news of his alleged abuse has tainted his memory that many residents in the city revered for generations.<\/p>\n

She said, \u201cWe cannot build movements for justice while ignoring harm within them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is personal. This is Cesar Chavez\u2019s neighborhood. His legacy is reflected in our murals, in our public spaces and in our community memory,\u201d she said. \u201cThat proximity makes this moment more painful, but also more important because we don\u2019t have the luxury of distancing ourselves from him. We have to face it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE \u2014 A San Jose City Councilman on Thursday announced plans to propose renaming historical landmarks in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[840,184,7,8,400,409,10150,181,23,205,2582,100,13,88,90,89,198,200],"class_list":["post-227957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-alum-rock","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-california-news","tag-california-politics","tag-city-politics","tag-east-san-jose","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-local-politics","tag-national-politics","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}