The Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Wednesday said it would work toward renaming federal landmarks and holidays bearing Cesar Chavez’s name, after the late labor-movement icon was accused of sexually abusing minors and women who were part of his activist movement.
“While it’s heartbreaking when leaders are exposed as flawed beyond absolution, a just society has a duty to hold abusers accountable without exception,” the caucus said in a statement. “We stand committed to work toward renaming streets, post offices, vessels, and holidays that bear Chávez’s name to instead honor our community and the farmworkers whose struggle defined the movement.”
The New York Times reported on Wednesday morning that at least two women who were children when they worked with Chavez say they were sexually assaulted by him during their time in the activist movement. Before his death in 1993, Chavez was a leading Latino civil-rights activist who had co-founded the United Farm Workers union in the 1960s.