As the fallout from the sexual abuse allegations against the late labor leader César Chávez continues to spread, new details are emerging about the identities of his accusers – including two women who say they were children when the abuse began.
Communities across the country are now grappling with what to do with the hundreds of parks, schools, and streets that bear his name.
The breaking New York Times investigative report, which drew on interviews with more than 60 people and a review of union records and other internal documents, named two women who say Chávez began abusing them in the 1970s when they were minors.
Ana Murguia told the NYT she was first molested by Chávez when she was 13 and he was 45. A second accuser, Debra Rojas, said Chávez sexually assaulted her when she was 12 and later again when she was 15 – including raping the victim during a now-famous United Farm Workers (UFW) march across California.
The investigative report also found evidence that Chávez had groomed multiple other young girls while leading the farmworkers movement, including a child he had known since she was 8.
Both Murguia and Rojas are now in their 60s and were daughters of organizers within the UFW. The women said they grappled with whether to come forward and whether they would be believed, given Chávez’s rise to fame as a civil rights hero.
UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, now 95, said in her own personal statement that it was learning of the other victims that ultimately broke her silence.
“The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me,” Huerta wrote. “I have never identified myself as a victim, but I now understand that I am a survivor – of violence, of sexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control,” she added.
The César Chavez Foundation has since announced that it had “Become aware of disturbing allegations that César Chavez engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with women and minors during his time as President of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).” The group also stated that it was “deeply shocked and saddened by what we are hearing.”
From Tribute to Controversy: Hundreds of Public Sites Face Calls for Renaming
Beyond the legal and political fallout, a quieter but complex problem is taking shape: what to do with the hundreds of public institutions, schools, and streets across America that carry Chávez’s name.
Since his death in 1993, hundreds of neighborhoods across the country have named schools, parks, streets, libraries, and other public facilities in his honor, and his birthday was declared an official holiday in 10 states.
In California alone, researchers at NPR found over 65 locations in the state bearing his name – and that number does not include the dozens more spread across Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, and beyond.
In California, there are more schools named after Chávez than after Martin Luther King Jr., per the state Department of Education’s own database.
However, his name extends beyond a few classrooms: streets in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Austin, and Portland bear it, as do parks, libraries, colleges, and even a U.S. Navy cargo ship.
In San Jose, Mayor Matt Mahan announced the city will cancel Chávez Day events. He said he and city council members will initiate a process to review locations, monuments, and other sites bearing Chávez’s name or likeness, per Kron 4 News.
In San Francisco, Supervisor Jackie Fielder said she supports removing Chávez’s name from any institutions in her district, which includes a “César Chávez Elementary School.” The city of Tempe has also announced via social media that they are renaming the César Chavez holiday, writing, “We are devastated to learn of the allegations of sexual abuse by César Chavez. We stand with those who have suffered sexual abuse.”
California State Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo has even introduced legislation to rename César Chávez Day “Farmworker Day.”
“This is about the hardworking men and women in ag who have greatly contributed to our state. It is about the movement, not one individual,” Macedo wrote on X.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), meanwhile, said he will rework legislation he previously introduced to create a national historic park named after Chávez.
That all creates a new problem for elected officials, school administrators, and community members across the country who must now weigh the weight of Chavez’s name against the alleged accounts of him sexually abusing multiple children.
On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared that the state will officially stop observing César Chávez Day, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Abbott instructed all state agencies to follow this directive immediately. He added that he plans to collaborate with legislators in the upcoming session to cut out the holiday from state law entirely.
“Reports of the horrific and widely acknowledged sexual assault allegations against César Chavez rightfully dismantle the myth of this progressive hero and undermine the narrative that elevated Chavez as a figure worthy of official state celebration,” Abbott said.
The scope of this fallout remains unclear. Each school or street name change can require separate votes by school boards or city councils, community input, and, in some cases, state legislative action.
