San Diego moves to erase Cesar Chavez tributes after sexual abuse allegations

On buildings, tributes to Cesar Chavez were dismantled. On websites, references to the late labor leader were wiped. Among organizations, leaders were initiating processes to scrub his name.

The work was almost immediate for San Diego groups to distance themselves from the once-revered civil rights icon after a report revealed allegations from several women of sexual abuse by Chavez, at least two while they were young girls, during the peak of the farmworkers rights movement he led in the 1970s.

The city of San Diego, for example, said Thursday it was already taking steps to rename Cesar Chavez Community Center and Cesar Chavez Parkway.

“I would say we’re actually taking really quick action associated with this,” City of San Diego’s chief logistics officer Bethany Bezak said. “Within less than 24 hours, we have identified all of the assets that needed to have naming change consideration and we’re taking this very seriously.”

Chavez’s name has already been removed from the center, but feedback from the community will be gathered before establishing its new name. The park board and council will also need to be involved. As for the roadway, the process is more complicated since it is embedded in the municipal code. After a community engagement process, property owners on the street will need to be notified of the name change and San Diego City Council will need to approve it.

While Cesar Chavez Day on March 31 is a state and national holiday, Bezak added that the city will no longer be calling it by that name on websites and in events.

For its part, California legislators have already presented a bill, which Gov. Gavin Newsom supports, to change the holiday’s name to Farmworkers Day.  California became the first state to designate Chavez’s birthday as a holiday in 2000 and schools were required to teach students about his involvement in the labor movement in California. In 2014, then-President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31 as national Cesar Chavez Day, urging Americans to honor his legacy. Chavez died in California in 1993 at age 66.

The Port of San Diego said its board will discuss rename Cesar Chavez Park along the San Diego Bay at its board meeting Tuesday.

Colleges also made speedy work to remove references. At Cal State San Marcos, there was no sign by Friday of what was once a large tribute to the United Farm Workers of America co-founder; a statue had been removed. And, Southwestern College pulled Chavez’s name letter by letter from the campus building, a photo from the college’s newspaper shows, and canceled an annual scholarship event held in his name.

San Diego Unified School District, which has an elementary school in Southcrest bearing Chavez’s name, has not made changes yet but board members were looking into its options.

“Our first responsibility is to acknowledge and support anyone who may have been harmed. As we move forward, including conversations about a school that bears his name, our focus will be on listening deeply to better understand the impact to the school community and how we might collectively move forward in a way that prioritizes student safety and a sense of belonging,” the San Diego Unified School District said in a statement.

Accusations of sexual assault were detailed in a bombshell New York Times investigation published Wednesday — which included an accusation of rape by his UFA co-founder, Dolores Huerta — and the fallout was immediate. Even before the report was published, organizations long tied to the farm labor organizer issued statements expressing shock and disappointment as well as support for victims.

Local buildings, parks, streets and schools are named after the civil rights icon. NBC 7’s Shandel Menezes reports on local reaction from a Barrio Logan park that bears his name.

The Cesar Chavez Foundation said it was in a statement it was “deeply shocked and saddened,” while the United Farm Workers issued a statement stating that while it has not have any firsthand knowledge, it learned of “deeply troubling allegations” that Chavez, one of the union’s co-founders, “behaved in ways that are incompatible with our organization’s values.”

UFW also said it will not be taking part in any March 31 Cesar Chavez Day activities and urged people around the country to participate in immigration justice events or acts of service instead of the typical events in March to commemorate Chavez’s legacy.

“We cannot celebrate the legacy of someone who carried out such vile abuse. I’m praying for the victims who have carried the pain of this abuse for decades. They deserve nothing less than accountability, support, and to be heard,” Vargas said in a statement.

The Chavez family released its own statement that read: “We honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual abuse. This is deeply painful for our family. We hope these matters are approached thoughtfully and fairly.”

Revelatory reporting unveiling evidence of sexual abuse of minors at the hands of one of the most iconic labor leaders in American history is sending shockwaves across the political sphere, especially in California. NBC 7 political reporter Joey Safchik has their reaction.

Born in Yuma, Arizona, Chavez grew up in a Mexican-American family that traveled around California picking lettuce, grapes, cotton and other seasonal crops. He died in California in 1993 at age 66.

Chavez is known nationally for his early organizing in the fields, a hunger strike, a grape boycott and eventual victory in getting growers to negotiate with farmworkers for better wages and working conditions.

In 1962, Chavez and Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which became the United Farm Workers of America.

Farmworkers are crucial to agribusiness in California, which grows nearly half the nation’s fruits, nuts and vegetables.

Chavez protested against poor pay and often-miserable work conditions. There were no toilets in the fields for workers, who weeded fields with short-handled hoes that forced them to bend over for hours at a time.

Bosses frequently ignored the health and wages of their workers, many of whom were Spanish-speakers in the country temporarily or illegally and had little political or legal clout to prevent abuses.

The Cesar Chavez Foundation and the United Farm Workers issued statements Tuesday detailing reports of abuse by Cesar Chavez. Robert Handa reports.