Los Angeles County will remove the name of Cesar Chavez from parks, murals, buildings, libraries, programs and his namesake holiday as a result of allegations the late United Farm Workers union labor leader raped ally Dolores Huerta, other women, and girls as young as 12 during the 1970s.
Twin motions were approved by the board by 5-0 votes on Tuesday, March 24, that will erase Chavez’s name and image seen throughout the county, while continuing to honor the farmworkers movement’s efforts toward better pay and working conditions.
The county changes intend to recognize and support the victims who spoke publicly about being sexually assaulted by the iconic leader for the first time in an explosive New York Times report.
The most urgent action on Tuesday was the renaming of the county holiday, Cesar Chavez Day, coming up on March 30, to “Farmworkers Day” and every last Monday in March thereafter. The name “Cesar Chavez Day” will disappear, something that has been a holiday in L.A. County since 2017.
The action is aligned with a move by the state Legislature to rename the state’s March 31 holiday to “Farmworkers Day.”
Second, the motions by L.A. County Chair and First District Supervisor Hilda Solis, with supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn as co-authors, also directs the Chief Executive Office and the County Counsel to begin an inventory of parks, streets, libraries, murals, monuments and other county programs named after Chavez, which will eventually be renamed, changed or altered.
“The County of Los Angeles has a firm responsibility to ensure any public recognitions reflect our shared values of justice, dignity, and respect, and today’s actions uphold those values,” said Solis. “By centering the experiences of survivors, highlighting the contributions of farmworkers past and present, and acknowledging the courage of women and community leaders who built this movement, we can honor the true legacy of the farmworker movement while confronting difficult truths.”
Solis said sexual violence has always been a serious problem for victims, who fear reprisals for telling authorities or are embarrassed. In this case, many said they didn’t want to hurt the cause, so they remained quiet for 60 years.
“Survivors must be listened to with care, treated with dignity and their voices should never be dismissed or overshadowed,” Solis added. Solis has been a friend of Huerta’s for many years. “This has been an extremely difficult time for many in our community and for me personally.”
Hahn, who specifically worked on the renaming of the holiday, said the new name will be more inclusive to all who advanced civil rights for farmworkers, even those groups and individuals not given much recognition.
“Like many civil rights movements, men were only half the story. We know for a fact women were at the core of all of our great civil rights movements,” Hahn said. “The legacy belongs to a collective, not any individual.”
The renaming opens up the day to recognizing other groups of other nationalities who worked before and later alongside Chavez for the rights of farm workers in California. For example, many spoke to the board about Filipino farm workers who led strikes and walked out of the fields for better conditions and wages.
On Sept. 8, 1965, 800 Filipino farm workers stopped working in the fields of Delano in protest of better working conditions and wages. The strike was led by leaders Larry Itliong and Ben Gines, who kept the movement going and later joined up with Chavez.
“The movement itself was ignited that day in 1965 by Filipino farmworkers. These leaders mobilized and took the first risk, yet their contribution has been ignored,” said Celeste Friedman, with the Asian Civil Rights League.
Pastor Eric Chen of Monterey Park said the supervisors could use the holiday to emphasize Filipino and Latino Americans coming together for justice. “This was a movement of the people that was cross-cultural.”
Southgate Vice Mayor Al Rios agreed that the Filipino worker contribution to the movement should be recognized by the new title of the day. Others said the county should move the date of the holiday to Sept. 8.
While renaming the holiday is a relatively simple step, changing or altering murals, programs, and names on county buildings will be a much longer, more difficult process, said county officials.
Kristin Sakoda, director of the county Department of Arts and Culture, said her staff identified three artworks featuring images of Chavez: one at a county library, one at a county park and one at a county probation center. If some artists are still alive, the county will have to discuss artistic license issues before making any changes. She said she’s consulting with the County Counsel’s Office.
The county’s library in East Los Angeles, at 4837 E 3rd Street, features a mural with images of Chavez. “We will have to figure out how to attack that,” said Yolanda Pina, chief deputy of the county library system. She said some posters with Chavez’s face have already been removed.
At county parks, several events, including helping at the park’s community garden, painting classes at a park and other events were named in Chavez’s honor as the holiday approached. “We removed the name Cesar Chavez but focused on service and volunteering,” said Norma Garcia, director of LA County Parks and Recreation.
The county will work with local cities with removal of images, monuments and murals, Solis said.
The city of San Fernando public works crews last week took down a once-revered Chavez statue, moments after the City Council voted to remove it.
Also on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Unified School District board unanimously approved a resolution to commemorate March 31 as “Farm Workers Day,” marking a significant shift away from honoring labor leader César Chávez amid a broader reckoning over his legacy.
LAUSD will begin an expedited process to rename campuses bearing Chávez’s name, including Cesar Chavez Learning Academies in San Fernando and Cesar Chavez Elementary School in El Sereno.
Chavez became one of the most prominent labor leaders in the country, leading strikes and boycotts that helped secure better pay and working conditions for farmworkers. He has long been honored across California, with schools, streets, public landmarks and a state holiday.
The recent allegations of sexual abuse involving Chávez have prompted institutions across California to reassess how they commemorate the labor leader.
Supervisors will receive a report back within 21 days, outlining recommendations for renaming buildings, changing murals, and how to involve the community in the process.
SCNG Staff Writer Teresa Liu contributed to this article.