The Carson City Council unanimously voted to rename its annual “Tribute to Cesar Chavez” event as “United Farm Workers Dignity Day.” The Mar. 24 decision followed an investigation reported last month by The New York Times, which detailed allegations of sexual abuse against the late labor leader.
Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes told The Bulletin that the city wanted to honor “the workers and not the man” behind the farm workers movement.
“We had to come up with something, which is why we had to have this emergency meeting,” Davis-Holmes explained. “We will continue to do what we do because it’s not about one person; it’s about everyone coming together to make this city, this nation great.”
The allegations against Chavez reverberated among social justice activists, labor rights advocacy groups and labor studies scholars nationwide—including at CSUDH. In a Mar. 19 letter to campus, interim CSUDH President Mary Ann Villarreal described The New York Times’ report as “difficult” and “painful.”
“I have reached out to many friends/colleagues to check on them as we process that someone that stood at the core of our early teachings of the Chicana/o history violated young women’s humanity and bodies,” Villareal wrote.
Action on campus soon followed—a mural of Chavez located in the Loker Student Union is now covered.
“Outreach is currently underway and will be an important part of the conversation,” said Jaime Leal, LSU interim executive director. “Decisions regarding the artwork will continue to be shared with the campus community.”
CSUDH labor studies professor Alfredo Carlos had long considered Chavez a controversial figure. Carlos told The Bulletin that, even as a college student, he was troubled by Chavez’s views on immigration and sidelining of the Filipino farm workers’ movement. Carlos acknowledged that Chavez “made gains” for farm workers, but his reservations weren’t received well by others.
“The fact you couldn’t ask questions about him was suspect,” Carlos recalled. “Farm workers are the most oppressed workers of the United States—and he made gains for them—but what he did is atrocious, and there’s no excuse for that, and we should denounce that openly.”
Carlos described the moment as a reckoning in how society evaluates historical figures, particularly those once widely admired despite their flaws.
“Why are we honoring these people as if they were saints? They’re not, they’re human beings; oftentimes flawed beyond our knowledge,” Carlos said.
Labor Studies currently has no plan to change the curriculum, Carlos said, adding that Chavez’s legacy is an inevitable topic.
“How do I still show a documentary that highlights [Chavez]?” he wondered. “Documentaries have done that, but also try to get students to focus on the farm worker struggle outside of Cesar … so we’re having to reconcile the problems, looking at history in a different frame that we are used to.”
Alexandro Hernandez, a professor of Chicana & Chicano Studies, had included images of Chavez in his presentations but has since removed them.
“Coming from our chair, is the concern that we’re making sure students have proper mental health resources, first and foremost … that’s something I’ve been sending out to my classes that have topics adjacent to that historical moment,” Hernandez said.
Both Hernandez and Carlos believe the situation reflects a broader issue of patriarchy.
“What my students said was that men need to speak up,” Carlos said. “Women have been speaking up, men need to speak to other men, to take space not from others, but talk to other men and say, ‘Hey, listen’.”
Carlos described non-toxic masculinity as respecting others—listening, being of service, and showing up while caring for friends and family. He added that it also means not exerting power over others. Hernandez, likewise, said the moment presents an opportunity for people to “learn how to listen and engage with survivors.”
“It’s going to be a journey for sure,” he said. “I know for one that we are creating a society that’s safe for women, women of color, the LGBTQIA+, and two-spirit people.”