In California, the fields are not abstract. They are part of our landscape, our economy and our identity. From the Central Valley to Los Angeles County to the Inland Empire, farmworkers have long sustained the state’s prosperity while too often remaining unseen within it. That is why Cesar Chavez Day has mattered: it has been a rare moment when California pauses to recognize the dignity of those whose labor feeds the nation.
But public holidays are not just reflections of the past, they are commitments in the present. They signal what, and whom, we choose to elevate. When credible allegations about sexual abuse emerge about a figure whose name anchors a state holiday, we are confronted with a difficult but necessary question: Are we honoring a person, or the principles they were meant to represent?
If the answer is the principles, then California should say so clearly and act accordingly.
Renaming the holiday would not erase history. It would sharpen it. The farmworker movement was never the work of one individual alone. It was built by organizers, picketers, families and communities—many of them immigrants—who risked livelihoods and safety to demand basic protections: fair wages, humane conditions, safety, and a voice in their own futures.
A name like “Farmworker Justice Day” would reflect that broader truth. It centers the people whose labor sustains California and underscores the unfinished work of securing their rights. It is a name that looks forward as much as it looks back.
California is no stranger to leading national conversations about labor and justice. It has expanded worker protections, elevated minimum wages and positioned itself as a bellwether for the country’s economic future. The LA County District Attorney’s Office has sought to enforce these protections, prosecuting those who seek to steal the wages of laborers and have them work under illegal conditions. Renaming this holiday would be in keeping with the values of this legacy not as an act of condemnation, but as an act of clarity.
There will be those who argue that changing the name risks diminishing a complicated legacy. But preserving history does not require freezing it. We can and should teach the full story of Cesar Chavez: his leadership, his impact and his shortcomings. A more inclusive holiday name would not erase his role; it would place it in its proper context within a larger movement that continues today.
Others will warn of a slippery slope. But public memory is not weakened by re-examination; it is strengthened by it. A society confident in its values does not hesitate to revisit how those values are expressed.
Ultimately, this is about alignment. If the purpose of this day is to honor dignity in labor, the power of nonviolence and the right of workers to organize, then the name of the holiday should reflect those ideals directly.
California’s farmworkers are still here. Their contributions are ongoing. Their struggles are not confined to history books or commemorative speeches.
We should honor them not just in spirit, but in name.
Rename the day, not to forget the past, but to better reflect the values we Californians claim as our own.
Nathan Hochman serves as district attorney of Los Angeles County.