Labor rights activist Dolores Huerta revealed she was among women and girls who say they were sexually abused by César Chavez, the widely admired Latino icon who brought to light the struggles of farmhands while leading the United Farm Workers union.
The stunning allegations against Chavez, who died more than three decades ago, drew immediate calls to alter memorials honoring the man who in the 1960s helped secure better wages and working conditions for farmworkers and has been long revered by many Democratic leaders in the U.S.
FILE - Dolores Huerta, the Mexican-American social activist who formed a farm workers union with Cesar Chavez, stands for the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish while visiting the New Mexico Statehouse in Santa Fe. N.M., on Feb. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras, File)
In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said she stayed silent for 60 years out of concern that her words would hurt the farmworker movement.
Huerta described two sexual encounters with Chavez, one where she was "manipulated and pressured" and another where she was "forced against my will."
"I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was life's work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn't going to let César or anyone else get in the way," she said.
Huerta, who is a labor rights legend in her own right, joined Chavez in 1962 to co-found the National Farm Workers Association, which became the United Farm Workers of America.
United Farm Workers leader Dolores Huerta, center, leads a Nov. 19, 1988, rally along with Howard Wallace, left, president of the San Francisco chapter of the UFW, and Maria Elena Chavez, 16, right, the daughter of Cesar Chavez, in San Francisco's Mission District as part of a national boycott of what the UFW claimed was the dangerous use of pesticides on table grapes.
For many, they were akin to Martin Luther King. Jr. and Rosa Parks because of their work advocating for racial equality and civil rights.
The New York Times first reported Wednesday that it found Chavez groomed and sexually abused young girls who worked in the movement. Huerta, too, revealed to the newspaper that she was a victim of the abuse in her 30s.
Huerta later said both sexual encounters with Chavez led to pregnancies, which she kept secret, and she arranged for the children to be raised by other families. "No one knew the full truth about how they were conceived until just a few weeks ago," she said in her statement.
Huerta said she did not know that Chavez hurt other women and condemned his actions but emphasized that the farmworker movement is bigger than one person.
"César's actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people," Huerta said in her statement. "We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever."
FILE - United Farm Workers President Cesar Chavez talks to striking Salinas Valley farmworkers during a large rally in Salinas, Calif., on March 7, 1979. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
Leaders reconsider celebrations honoring Chavez
Streets, schools and parks across the Southwest bear Chavez's name. California became the first state to commemorate his birthday, and in 2014, then-President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31 as national César Chavez Day.
President Joe Biden had a bronze bust of Chavez installed in the Oval Office when he moved into the White House. Neither Biden nor Obama have yet commented on the allegations.
But otherwise, reactions Wednesday were swift from many in both parties.
Days before the allegations were revealed publicly, several César Chavez celebrations in San Francisco, Texas and in his home state of Arizona were canceled at the request of the César Chavez Foundation. Organizers of canceled events did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state will not observe the César Chavez Day holiday and that he will urge the state Legislature to remove it altogether.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was still processing the news. The Democratic governor wouldn't commit to making any changes to the state holiday, saying the farmworker movement was much more than Chavez. "It's about labor. It's about social justice, economic justice, racial justice."
A spokesperson for Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said she has declined to recognize March 31 as César Chavez Day as she has in the two prior years. César Chavez Day isn't a state holiday in Arizona.
Next week, the Phoenix City Council is set to vote on whether to rename the March 31 holiday, as well as buildings and city streets that bear Chavez's name. The mayor and two city council members want the holiday to be renamed Farmworkers Day.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller ordered a review of how Chavez is recognized across the city. And U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a New Mexico Democrat, said: "His name should be removed from landmarks, institutions and honors."
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.
César Chavez, a farm worker, labor organizer and leader of the California grape strike, is seen in 1965 in a California works office.
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.
The César Chavez Foundation pledged unequivocal support for the labor leader's victims on Wednesday and said that -- with the Chavez family's support -- the organization will figure out its identity going forward.
"We are committed to restorative justice and healing for those who have been harmed, and to ensure our organization reflects the dignity and safety every person deserves," the foundation said in a statement.
Latino civil rights leaders weigh allegations
Latino leaders and community groups are now weighing the impact of Chavez's actions on the labor rights movement while emphasizing that the farmworker movement was led by thousands who came together to fight for justice.
The League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights organization, released a statement condemning any form of sexual violence, stating that "no individual, regardless of statue or legacy is above accountability." Similarly, leaders from the nonprofit Voto Latino said in a statement that no matter his legacy or historical framing Chavez's actions are inexcusable. But, they said, the news does not erase the work done by others.
"The women who organized, marched, and sacrificed alongside farmworkers carried this movement on their backs," Voto Latino said.
U.S. Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández, chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, issued a statement saying she was heartbroken and deeply disturbed by the stories of women who say they were abused.
The United Farm Workers union quickly distanced itself from annual celebrations of its founder, calling the allegations troubling.
In a statement Tuesday, the union said allegations of "abuse of young women or minors" were concerning enough to urge 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.
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Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Trân Nguyễn in Sacramento, Calif.; Dorany Pineda in Los Angeles; Felicia Fonseca and Jacques Billeaud in Arizona contributed to this report.
15 women who made a difference (and a few who still are)
Sojourner Truth
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She was born into slavery but escaped with her daughter in 1826. The African-American abolitionist and women’s rights campaigner gave a noteworthy extemporaneous speech “Ain’t I a woman?” in 1851, powerfully and simply speaking about the racism and sexism of her day.
Harriet Tubman
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She was a slave who escaped in 1849 and then went back to lead other slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. She became a speaker on the experiences of slavery and an advocate for the rights of African-Americans and black women.
Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
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Stanton was a U.S. activist and leading figure in the early women’s rights movement. She also was the main author of “Declaration of Sentiments” in 1848. Along with activist Susan B. Anthony, she founded the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. Anthony fought against slavery and for the promotion of women’s and workers rights. She began campaigning with the temperance movement and became convinced that women should have the vote. Her work helped pave the way for the 19th Amendment (1920), which finally gave women the right to vote. Mott was one of the leading voices of the abolitionist and feminist movements of her time. She helped form the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1833, and later was among the founders of the American women’s rights movement.
Elizabeth Blackwell
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Born in Britain in 1821, Blackwell was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the U.S. and was the first woman to be on the U.K. medical register. She helped to smash social barriers that prevented women doctors from being accepted.
Marie Sklodowska Curie
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The Polish/French scientist was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize and the first person to win the Nobel in two categories. Her first award was for research into radioactivity, in 1903. Her second Nobel was for chemistry, in 1911. She also helped develop the first X-ray machines.
Helen Keller
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The U.S. crusader for the handicapped overcame the challenges of being blind and deaf to become one of the 20th century's leading humanitarians, activists and lecturers. She also co-founded the ACLU in 1920.
Emily Murphy
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She was the first woman magistrate in the British Empire, and in 1927, she joined forces with four other Canadian women who sought to challenge a Canadian law that declared, “Women should not be counted as persons.”
Hedy Lamarr
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The stunning actress starred with Clark Gable, Spencer Tracey and others on the silver screen in the 1930s and 1940s. She also was a scientist, helping to invent an early technique for spread spectrum communications, which led to the wireless communications we enjoy today.
Rosa Parks
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The seamstress quietly but firmly refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., city bus in 1955, and created a firestorm of activism that quickly spread. The leaders of the local black community organized a bus boycott that began the day Parks was convicted of violating segregation laws. Her action emboldened the civil rights movement.
Wangari Maathai
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Katherine Johnson
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Gloria Steinem
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Shirley Chisholm
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Chisholm was the first black congresswoman in U.S. history and served for seven terms. She ran for the 1972 Democratic nomination for the presidency, becoming the first major-party African-American candidate to do so. She also fought for education opportunities and social justice.
Dolores Huerta
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The co-founder of what would become the United Farm Workers was one of the most influential labor activists of the 20th century. Huerta today continues to work to improve social and economic conditions for farm workers and to fight discrimination.
Malala Yousafzai
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The Pakistani activist was only a teenager when she began to speak out against the Taliban and its attacks on education for girls. She was shot in an assassination attempt at age 15. It only made her more determined. In 2014, Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their activism. Today the Malala Fund works to ensure girls receive an education.
