\u201cI\u2019m still processing it,\u201d said Flor Martinez Zaragoza, chief executive and founder of the Celebration Nation<\/a>, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the Indigenous Latino community across California and host of the event. \u201cI stand with the survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n Founder Flor Martinez Zaragoza hosts a gathering for farmworkers and community members on Tuesday.<\/p>\n (Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n In the wake of the New York Times report, many government and city officials looked to distance themselves from Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s newly tainted legacy. They began by renaming C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Day; held annually on March 31, it was authorized by President Obama as a U.S. federal commemorative holiday in 2014.<\/p>\n The community sprung to action by removing Ch\u00e1vez statues from a pedestal<\/a> in San Fernando, painting over murals in his memory across Los Angeles and unanimously voting to strip his name<\/a> from street signs in Fresno.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a proclamation<\/a> on March 19 to change C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Day to Farmworkers Day in the city. And by Thursday, the California Legislature<\/a> followed suit, with the aim of acknowledging the broader contributions of agricultural workers. The change was swiftly approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n Still, Martinez Zaragoza is worried that the rush to tear down the Ch\u00e1vez legacy so hastily could altogether erase the history of the United Farm Workers movement, which has helped secure labor rights and better safety protections for agricultural workers since its foundation in 1962.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they take down statues, who is holding people accountable to make sure they\u2019re putting up statues of farmworkers?\u201d asked Martinez Zaragoza. \u201cIf they\u2019re removing certain inserts from history textbooks, who\u2019s making sure that they\u2019re not erasing the whole farmworker movement?\u201d<\/p>\n As host of the night, Martinez Zaragoza wanted to center the voices of farmworkers and how they were feeling about the collective community move to wash Ch\u00e1vez from history. As it turns out, glossing over a once-beloved labor leader does not come easy for some.<\/p>\n \u201cIt hurts to see what\u2019s happening. My respects to Dolores Huerta. As a woman, we have to support her, right?\u201d said Xochitl Nu\u00f1ez, community leader from Orosi, Calif., and member of UFW. \u201cMy respects to her, but you can\u2019t judge a dead man. You can only judge a living person.\u201d<\/p>\n As a survivor of sexual assault, Nu\u00f1ez feels for the women involved, but worries that painting over imagery of Ch\u00e1vez washes over the impact of his nonviolent, direct-action protests that in 1970 helped the UFW secure contracts for more than 10,000 grape pickers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt peeves me to hear someone from the city complain or spew barbarities. What do the people from the city know if they\u2019ve never been to the fields?\u201d exclaimed Nu\u00f1ez to the group. \u201cThey\u2019ve never gone to the fields where I am working under 116 degrees. I need water, I need shade, a bathroom \u2014 and thanks to his fight, we have those things.\u201d<\/p>\n The rapid action to rename C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Day also made Nu\u00f1ez wonder why other bills in the state, like the Rural Farmworker Women\u2019s Health Act<\/a> \u2014 which aims to provide free menstrual products to female agricultural workers in California \u2014 haven\u2019t been approved as quickly by legislators, despite being introduced by David Tangipa and Juan Alanis in February.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not in front of the pharmacies, sometimes we\u2019re an hour away,\u201d said Nu\u00f1ez, when it comes to obtaining menstrual products.<\/p>\n![\"Founder](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775088609_332_.jpeg\")
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