Calls are growing to remove Cesar Chavez’s name from buildings, parks, streets

California is moving quickly to rename Cesar Chavez Day following sexual harassment allegations against the iconic labor leader.

A move to reestablish the March 31 holiday as “Farm Workers Day” was announced Thursday by Democratic Alliance leaders in the state Legislature.

“California’s farmworker rights movement has never been about one person. To those survivors who have found the courage to come forward, uphold the organization’s values ​​of dignity and justice, and demand accountability, our hearts are always with you,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) in a joint statement.

Some Republicans have also expressed a desire to continue to honor the broader farmworker movement, even as they diminish Chavez as an individual. Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) and Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare) said Wednesday they were already working on legislation to rename the holiday “Farm Workers Day.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom showed support for the effort on social media and during comments at an unrelated event.

“Cesar represented a movement — a farm worker movement, a labor movement — and it’s right to celebrate that movement,” he said. So I support the direction that many are advocating, including members of the Legislature, and we look forward to moving that forward in an expeditious manner.”

Calls to remove Chavez from a series of schools, streets and parks named in his honor followed the publication Wednesday of a New York Times investigation containing disturbing allegations that Chavez sexually assaulted two teenage girls in the 1970s, as well as legendary farm leader Dolores Huerta in the 1960s.

Huerta, along with one of the girls, said Chavez raped her.

The claims quickly became a political issue across California and other states, where Chavez has been memorialized in many ways since his death in 1993.

On Thursday, LA Mayor Karen Bass and members of the City Council announced that they would abandon the holiday celebrating Chavez’s birthday and instead name it “Farm Workers Day” to honor the workers who toil in the fields every day.

The situation was tense as Bass and four council members — all women of color who have cited Chavez as an inspiration — spoke about what they considered a painful accusation.

“Normally, when we do this signing, it’s something we celebrate. This is not a celebration,” Bass said. “This is an important change, which we all feel is important to make, because moving forward, this is about respecting the men and women and children who work hard every day in our fields.”

The next steps will include a city-wide evaluation process to redesign signs, parks and city buildings with community input. Bass said he contacted the Chavez family, which supports his effort to rename the holiday, which falls on the last Monday of March.

“The numbers are real and they feel it. We all feel it,” said Council Member Monica Rodriguez. “I am thankful that my community has the integrity and strength to deal with these revelations properly, and as we are doing in Los Angeles, we are leading by example.”

Councilor Eunisses Hernandez said that he, himself a survivor, has seen the monarchy silence women. He was told that “calladita te ves más bonita” — “You look beautiful when you are quiet.”

“It exploits our performance, destroys our pain, questions our truth,” she said. “I know that feeling, the feeling of carrying something and counting every day that telling the truth will cost you your safety, your voice or your place in the world.”

Others also called on the city’s leadership to rename institutions bearing Chavez’s name – including Cesar E. Chavez Avenue. California Rising founder Raul Claros asked city and elected officials to change the name of the street to Dolores Huerta Avenue “as soon as possible.”

Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles on Wednesday.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

“We know in the Latino community, a lot of this abuse has been endured for generations. In our culture, we are told to be quiet,” he said. “That stops now.”

In an interview with Latino USA, the first since the New York Times report, Huerta said streets named after Chavez should be renamed instead of the movement.

“Everything should be called the martyrs of the Farm Workers Movement. Every street should be named after them,” said Huerta.

Before the allegations against Chavez became public, many communities canceled their annual celebrations in his honor. On Thursday, the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, which hosts family-friendly entertainment and workshops, announced it would not go ahead with its Cesar Chavez Family Day event.

Many other cities are also planning to re-examine streets and areas named after Chavez.

In the agricultural Central Valley, Fresno City Council Member Miguel Arias said he will pursue renaming the area’s Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

“Public streets and building names are meant to honor people who have uplifted our community and stand for high values,” he wrote on Facebook. “Given what we know now, Cesar Chavez’s actions do not meet that standard, and we have an obligation to act accordingly.”

In Long Beach, where a neighborhood park and elementary school are named after Chavez, Mayor Rex Richardson said the city will engage with the community to consider “how we see the farm worker movement in our public spaces, holidays and public life – including revising the design of public facilities – in a way that is responsive to the times and based on our values.”

Bakersfield city leaders also announced they will end efforts to rename H Street in Chavez’s honor, a plan originally proposed in August 2025.

In Northern California, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty announced on X that he is appointing a council subcommittee to oversee the renaming of the city’s city park, named after Chavez.

“We take these allegations seriously and will ensure that the design of our City’s buildings is consistent with our principles,” McCarty wrote.

The revelations also put California school districts — already preparing for annual recognition of Chavez’s memory and contributions — in a difficult situation.

The Los Angeles Unified School District said it is “reviewing curriculum and resources to ensure greater emphasis is placed on the important work of the farmworker organization, not on any one individual.”

“It is important to recognize the collective work of thousands who have advanced social justice, workers’ rights, and community empowerment,” the district said in a statement.

The district will continue, this year, to give its students and teachers the day off that was planned to celebrate Chavez’s birthday. In the second largest school system in the country, the holiday is celebrated on Friday, March 27, and has the effect of extending spring break, which extends throughout the following week.

“We’re all very, very concerned about the allegations that have come out over the last few days, especially yesterday,” Acting LA Unified Supt. Andres Chait said in a press conference on Thursday. “We are evaluating the impact it will have on our educational system, which is specific to the holidays.”

Chavez’s name also adorns buildings and doors at all California colleges, especially those that focus on Latino communities, Chicano studies and labor studies.

Rachel Zaentz, spokeswoman for the 10-campus University of California system, said university leaders are “deeply concerned” about the allegations against Chavez.

“We stand firmly with the survivors and are analyzing these findings internally. We will communicate updates as appropriate,” Zaentz said.

On Wednesday, a UC Davis spokeswoman said the university had renamed an upcoming conference to remove Chavez’s name. It will now be known as the Avanza Rising Scholars Conference.

“Since 2001, tens of thousands of elementary, high school and community college students from low-income and underrepresented backgrounds have participated in our annual college access conference in partnership with UC Davis’ Avanza Initiative. The conference connects young people with campus resources, information and guidance to support their path to higher education,” said U.C. James.

A portrait of Cesar Chavez was encased in a plywood box on the campus of Fresno State University in Fresno on Wednesday.

(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)

A statue of Chavez erected on the campus of Fresno State University is enclosed in a plywood box.

“Due to the seriousness of the current revelations, as a first step, we are closing this statue while we determine the appropriate steps to remove it,” said university President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval.

Arias, a Fresno councilman and former farmworker, acknowledged that Chavez “became an idol to us as a community, because he fought for us and for our farmworker parents.” The same, he said, is true of Huerta — “who remains a teacher of our Latino community.”

“When abuelita sits you down at the dinner table and tells you the truth about what happened back in the day, we have a responsibility to listen and act in a way that honors the pain and sets a new standard for all of us to adhere to,” he said.

Times staff writers Taryn Luna, Howard Blume and Hayley Smith contributed to this report.