What the César Chávez Revelations Mean for Our Community

This is the 93rd week of The Latino Newsletter, and our newsroom has spent most of the day holding the news from The New York Times that civil rights icon César Chávez was accused of being a pedophile, sexual abuser, and rapist.

Today, the Times published a multi-year investigation based on interviews with more than 60 people — top Chávez aides, union members, relatives, and survivors —along with hundreds of pages of union records, confidential emails, photographs, and contemporaneous audio recordings. The investigation found that Chávez sexually abused two girls in the 1970s, beginning when they were 12 and 13 years old. It also found that Chávez raped Dolores Huerta — his longtime partner in building the United Farm Workers — in 1966.

Huerta, who turns 96 next month, issued a statement today confirming what the Times reported. She had never spoken publicly about it before.

“I am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for,” Huerta wrote.

“I have encouraged people to always use their voice. Following the New York Times’ multi-year investigation into sexual misconduct by César Chávez, I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences,” she added. “As a young mother in the 1960s, I experienced two separate sexual encounters with César. The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss, and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to. The second time, I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.”

Notably, the United Farm Workers had already issued a statement on March 17 — the day before the Times investigation was published.

“The UFW has learned of deeply troubling allegations that one of the union's co-founders, César Chávez, behaved in ways that are incompatible with our organization's values,” the union said, adding that it would not be taking part in any César Chávez Day activities. The UFW is establishing an external, confidential, independent channel for those who may have experienced harm.

The Chávez family issued a statement today. Here is what they shared with The Latino Newsletter:

The response from Latino organizations has been swift.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus said it “unequivocally believes and stands with survivors” and called for renaming streets, post offices, and holidays that bear Chávez's name. “Accountability never dies,” the CHC said.

Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) called the accounts “heartbreaking” and “horrific.”

“There must be zero tolerance for abuse, exploitation, and the silencing of victims, no matter who is involved,” Padilla said.

UnidosUS called the allegations “extremely disturbing” and said that “no one, no matter how revered, is above the law,” calling for a thorough investigation.

LULAC and Justice for Migrant Women also issued statements standing with survivors.

Others keep coming in.

In addition, columns are being written.

Here at The Latino Newsletter, Michelle Zacarias, our podcast host, shared a statement of solidarity with Huerta: “I stand in solidarity with Dolores Huerta and the other survivors who experienced sexual abuse at the hands of César Chávez. Dolores was also one of the first featured guests of The Latino Newsletter podcast after I became the host. She was an early supporter of my work, and I’m extremely grateful to have had her share her experience and knowledge with us. The labor movement would not be where it is today without her contributions and advocacy.”

In 2021, after eight years of searching, I found the primary document copy of a 1974 letter Chávez wrote to the San Francisco Examiner, in which he advocated amnesty for undocumented workers and called them “our brothers and sisters.” That work was about defending the complexity of Chávez’s legacy from revisionist right-wing narratives.

Today’s reckoning is different. The survivors deserve to be heard.

Michelle and I will be discussing all of this in a special podcast episode dropping this Friday. We will be talking through what this means for the Latino community and how we balance movements, complexity, and accountability.

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Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder of The Latino Newsletter. He is also its current part-time publisher and executive director. He edited and published this edition of The Latino Newsletter.

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