Santa Barbara City Councilmember Oscar Gutiérrez called the recent sexual assault allegations against late labor organizer and Latino civil rights leader César Chávez “heartbreaking.”
“With what's come forward, I can't in good conscience support someone who has done that, regardless of all the good deeds that he has done,” Gutiérrez told KCBX.
In a new investigation by the New York Times, several women said that they were sexually abused by Chávez. One of the women is renowned activist Dolores Huerta, who told the Times that Chávez raped her.
Some governments and institutions have responded by canceling their César Chávez Day celebrations.
Gutiérrez says he’s in favor of changing a Santa Barbara street that’s named in his honor, Calle César Chávez, near the East Beach neighborhood.
He also said he was in favor of renaming César Chávez Day to “Farm Workers Day.”
“[It] actually feels more fitting, because that is what the entire movement that he represented and fought for is about, it’s about the farm workers,” Gutiérrez said
Bryan Latchford, a spokesperson for the city of Santa Barbara, told KCBX those changes could be complicated.
“Any change or elimination of the holiday would require negotiations with labor unions,” Latchford said. “Any street name change would also need to go through a fairly lengthy process.”
Chávez’s birthday, March 31, has been a California state holiday since the year 2000.
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and UC Santa Barbara both observe César Chávez Day.
A representative from Cal Poly called the allegations deeply troubling, and said the school has no events planned for the holiday.
United Farm Workers, the labor union that Chavez helped found, canceled this year’s celebrations.
A number of California cities and counties say they plan to, or will consider, renaming streets, landmarks and holidays that bear his name.
