Many work to reconcile César Chavez’s labor rights activist legacy with sexual abuse allegations

United Farm Workers leader Dolores Huerta, center, leads a rally in San Francisco's Mission District on Nov. 19, 1988, along with Howard Wallace, president of the San Francisco chapter of the UFW, left, and Maria Elena Chavez, 16, the daughter of Cesar Chavez, right, as part of a national boycott of what the UFW claims is the dangerous use of pesticides on table grapes. (AP Photo/Court Mast, File) 2026-03-19T05:54:51Z PHOENIX (AP) — Mary Rose Wilcox and her husband marched and fasted alongside César Chavez. They helped him open a radio station in Phoenix and plastered their Mexican restaurant with photos and a mural of the widely admired Latino icon. So when Wilcox’s daughter called this week to inform them of sexual abuse allegations that were leveled against Chavez, she said it felt like a punch to the gut. By Wednesday morning, the couple had taken down Chavez’s photos from their restaurant walls and plan to cover the mural. “We love César Chavez. But we cannot honor him and we cannot even love him anymore,” said the former Phoenix City Council member. Many like Wilcox are working to reconcile the legacy of a man who fought tirelessly for the rights of farmworkers with stunning allegations that he sexually abused girls and the co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America union, Dolores Huerta. Latino leaders and community groups quickly called the alleged abuse by Chavez inexcusable, but they emphasized that the farmworker movement was never just about a single man. Chavez died in California in 1993 at age 66. There were 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. The California Museum said it will be removing Chavez from the state’s Hall of Fame - something it’s never done with anyone before. Some local and state leaders in both parties urged their communities not to observe Chavez’s birthday on March 31 with

原文链接: AP News