California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday to rename C\u00e9sar Chavez Day as Farmworkers Day in an effort to reconcile the Latino labor icon\u2019s legacy with explosive sexual abuse allegations before the state holiday on March 31.<\/p>\n
The state Senate approved the legislation earlier in the day with bipartisan support.<\/p>\n
The change comes after allegations became public last week that Chavez had sexually abused girls and women during his days building a major farmworker labor rights movement in the 1960s in California\u2019s agricultural heartland. Among those who accused him was Dolores Huerta, who co-led the movement that eventually became the United Farm Workers.<\/p>\n
The state\u2019s effort to rename the holiday is part of a wave of other moves to alter memorials honoring the man who, in the 1960s and 1970s, helped secure better wages and working conditions for farmworkers and had been admired by many Democratic leaders. The swift and sweeping effort to erase Chavez\u2019s name from public life was previously unthinkable, as his status had only grown more iconic since his death in 1993.<\/p>\n
Republican Sen. Suzette Valladares said Thursday that her family built a life in California by working the fields and that the movement brought together workers from different backgrounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not about one person. This is not about one narrative,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about honoring generations of sacrifice, of resilience and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limon said honoring farmworkers is especially important in the face of a series of federal raids across the state last year. A worker in her district died after being chased by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last summer, Limon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis death is a reminder of how much farmworkers risk every day to put food on our table,\u201d she said before the vote. \u201cOur farmworkers remind us that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
California was the first state to designate Chavez\u2019s birthday, March 31, as a holiday to honor the civil rights leader nearly 30 years ago. The Legislature then, in 2000, passed a bill to make it an official paid day off for state employees and require that students learn about his legacy and his role in the labor movement in California. The legislation passed Thursday didn’t address the curriculum requirement. State leaders said they’re in conversation with school officials to adjust lesson plans. <\/p>\n
The California bill also passed in the Assembly with bipartisan support on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot ignore wrongdoing and we should not continue to celebrate a single person when the movement itself is so much bigger,\u201d Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry said before the vote Monday.<\/p>\n
Since the allegations came to light, California State University, Fresno, has covered up Chavez\u2019s statue on campus, while cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento have taken steps to erase his name from public landmarks. Some advocated for Huerta\u2019s name to replace Chavez\u2019s, and several states already said they won\u2019t observe the day.<\/p>\n
As his birthday approaches, cities across the country have remade or canceled annual celebrations to honor him. In Tucson last weekend, the annual C\u00e9sar Chavez and Dolores Huerta March and Rally were scaled back and rebranded. There was no march or car show, and it was billed instead as the Comunidad y Labor Unity Fair to focus more broadly on labor rights without mentioning Chavez.<\/p>\n
In Grand Junction, Colorado, the organizers of the annual event in Mesa County had already printed flyers and T-shirts, all bearing Chavez\u2019s name. There has been a flurry of social media posts in recent days to let people know the event will go on Saturday as the S\u00ed, Se Puede Celebration instead.<\/p>\n
In El Paso, Texas, March 31 will be celebrated as the Community and Labor Heritage Day.<\/p>\n
__<\/p>\n
Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan contributed from Albuquerque, New Mexico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday to rename C\u00e9sar Chavez Day as Farmworkers Day in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-240546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240546","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=240546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}