Several women have come forward accusing civil rights activist Cesar Chavez of having sexually abused them, according to a recent report from the New York Times.
Ana Murguia, Debra Rojas, and Dolores Huerta spoke to the outlet about how Chavez, who was “one of the most revered figures in the Latino civil rights movement,” had sexually abused them.
Murguia recounted an instance in which she was 13, and Chavez was 45, where she was in his office and he allegedly “kissed her and pulled her pants down.” Murguia explained that Chavez “molested her but never had intercourse with her.”
Rojas explained to the outlet that “She was 12 when Mr. Chavez first touched her inappropriately, and that years later, when she was 15 “He arranged to have her stay at a motel during a weekslong march through California.” Rojas added that he “had sexual intercourse with her — rape, under state law”:
He locked the door, as he always did when he called her, and told her how lonely he had been. He brought her onto the yoga mat that he often used in his office for meditation, kissed her and pulled her pants down. “Don’t tell anyone,” he told her afterward. “They’d get jealous.”
The man, Cesar Chavez, one of the most revered figures in the Latino civil rights movement, was 45. She was 13. Ms. Murguia said she was summoned for sexual encounters with him dozens of times over the next four years.
Huerta, who was Chavez’s “most prominent female ally in the movement” shared that Chavez “sexually assaulted her.” Huerta, who was involved in a “long-term domestic partnership with Mr. Chavez’s brother Richard,” shared how one night in 1966, Chavez raped her in a car while in “a secluded grape field.”
The outlet noted that Murguia and Rojas “have not shared their stories publicly before.” The outlet also began an investigation that found “extensive evidence to support their accusations and those raised by several other women.”
In response to the outlet’s questions over the accusations against Chavez, the United Farm Workers (UFW) “canceled its annual celebrations honoring Mr. Chavez.”
The outlet explained that “the findings are based on interviews with more than 60 people, including his top aides at the time, his relatives and former members of the U.F.W.”:
The findings are based on interviews with more than 60 people, including his top aides at the time, his relatives and former members of the U.F.W., which he co-founded with Ms. Huerta and Gilbert Padilla. The Times reviewed hundreds of pages of union records, confidential emails and photographs, as well as hours of audio recordings from U.F.W. board meetings.
The accounts of abuse from Ms. Murguia and Ms. Rojas were independently verified through interviews with those they confided in decades ago and in more recent years. Elements of their stories were also corroborated in documents, emails, itineraries and other writings from union organizers, supporters of Mr. Chavez and historians.
In response to the report, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) stated that Texas would “not observe the Cesar Chavez Day holiday.”
“The state of Texas will not observe the Cesar Chavez Day holiday,” Abbott wrote in a post on X. “I am directing all Texas state agency heads to comply. In the upcoming legislative session, I will work with Texas lawmakers to remove Cesar Chave Day from state law altogether.”
“Reports of the horrific and widely acknowledged sexual assault allegations against Cesar Chavez rightfully dismantle the myth of this progressive hero and undermine the narrative that elevated Chavez as a figure worthy of official state celebration,” Abbott added.
In a press release on Tuesday, the UFW Foundation announced that all Cesar Chavez Day activities were cancelled for March.
“For nearly 20 years, the UFW Foundation has worked to advocated, organize and provide direct services that protect and serve farm workers and immigrants—many of whom are women, and many of whom have shared their painful stories with us,” the UFW said. “We know this is difficult and painful and the healing and safety of survivors is of utmost importance to us.”
