Labor icon Huerta accuses César Chavez of sexual assault

American labour leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta visits the graves of Cesar and Helen Chavez at the Ceasar Chavez National Monument in Keene, California on January 31, 2017, in the foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains at the southern end of central California's San Joaquin Valley. Huerta, 86, the subject of Peter Bratt's documentary "Dolores", celebrating the accomplishments of her eventful and still-active life, officially began her career as an activist in 1955 by helping Frank Ross start the Stockton, California Chapter of the Community Service Organization, which fought for economic improvements for Latinos. In 1962, she co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with labour leader and civil rights activist César Chávez, which would later become the United Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee. / AFP / Frederic J. Brown / TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY VERONIQUE DUPONT (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images) — American labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta visits the graves of César and Helen Chavez

(Image credit: Frederic J. Brown / AFP / Getty Images)

What happened

Labor leaders and state lawmakers on Wednesday scrambled to cancel or rename upcoming events celebrating United Farm Workers founder César Chavez after The New York Times reported it had “uncovered extensive evidence” he sexually abused multiple underage girls and women, including Dolores Huerta, the union’s co-founder and fellow labor icon. Huerta said in a statement that Chavez, who died in 1993, had pressured her into having sex once and raped her another time, with both encounters resulting in children who were raised by other families.

Who said what

“I am nearly 96 years old,” Huerta said, and “I have kept this secret long enough. My silence ends here.” She said she had “carried this secret” for 60 years “because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work,” but Chavez’s “deplorable” actions “do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people.”

For many, Chavez and Huerta “were akin to Martin Luther King. Jr. and Rosa Parks because of their work advocating for racial equality and civil rights,” The Associated Press said. Huerta’s “accusation shatters what was a widely celebrated — and seemingly egalitarian — bond between two of the most influential Hispanic activists in U.S. history,” the Times said. Chavez’s “name should be removed from landmarks, institutions and honors,” Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) said on social media. “We cannot celebrate someone who carried out such disturbing harm.”

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What next?

The allegations “have prompted swift fallout,” the AP said. The UFW and AFL-CIO unions both said they will not participate in or endorse any activities for César Chavez Day, celebrated on or around his March 31 birthday. Cities, states and Latino advocates are moving to rename schools, streets and holidays bearing his name.

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.