Institutions and cities across the United States are reevaluating the legacy of labor leader and political activist\u00a0C\u00e9sar\u00a0Chavez\u00a0following\u00a0a\u00a0March investigation\u00a0that\u00a0brought forward multiple allegations of sexual abuse.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
As\u00a0C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez\u00a0Day was set to be celebrated on March 31, an in-depth investigation by The\u00a0New York Times<\/a>\u00a0prompted\u00a0renamings, cancelled\u00a0celebrations\u00a0and many public responses from government officials.\u00a0Some of those allegations\u00a0include\u00a0reported abuse\u00a0of\u00a0women and minors as young as 12 years old, all\u00a0while leading the United Farm Workers (UFW),\u00a0which Ch\u00e1vez\u00a0co-founded with Delores Huerta.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Following the investigation\u00a0on\u00a0March. 18,\u00a0Huerta\u00a0put out a statement on\u00a0The Medium<\/a> where she admitted she was sexually abused two\u00a0different times\u00a0in the 1960\u2019s\u00a0by\u00a0Ch\u00e1vez,\u00a0both\u00a0encounters\u00a0resulted in\u00a0pregnancies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Huerta\u00a0stated,\u00a0\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to let\u00a0C\u00e9sar\u00a0or anyone else get in the way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Keeping this a secret for 60 years, Huerta\u00a0was determined\u00a0to protect the farmworker movement.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life\u2019s\u00a0work,\u201d\u00a0Huerta said.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to\u00a0El Paso Times<\/a>, city leaders want to strip C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s name from El Paso. According to\u00a0KFOX14<\/a>, the city council calls for three community hearings to gather feedback on renaming places honoring C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez, including the C\u00e9sar E. Ch\u00e1vez border highway. Greg Abbott plans to eliminate C\u00e9sar\u00a0Ch\u00e1vez\u00a0Day across Texas.\u00a0California lawmakers have since rename C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Day as Farmworkers Day while the UFW says they have canceled all celebrations, taking these allegations as a betrayal of their values. \u00a0<\/p>\n The El Paso community was shocked by the news\u00a0of these findings. According to\u00a0the El Paso Times,<\/a>\u00a0the Ysleta Independent School District (YISD) noted that they are deeply saddened by the news, though\u00a0they have no plans to rename the Cesar Chavez Academy in southeast El Paso.\u00a0<\/p>\n El Paso city officials\u00a0have renamed March 31\u00a0as\u00a0Community & Labor Heritage Day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n