FOR A FEW HOURS in April 1966, Stockton agricultural workers and residents showed up in thousands to rally behind Cesar Chavez and nearly a hundred of his followers marching through the city’s once-bustling, now-no-more St. Mary’s Square on their way to Sacramento.
Decades later, longtime Stockton advocate Luis Magaña found himself confronting another side of the labor leader’s legacy — and the possible loss of a labor identity that, for many, has long been synonymous with Chavez himself. In the wake of sex abuse claims leveled against Chavez, Magaña fielded calls Wednesday from confused farmworkers across the city.
“They’re asking me, ‘What’s going on? What did you hear?” said Magaña in an interview about his peers, those he calls the “face” of the fields today. “And I tell them.”
Chavez’s legacy marks public spaces in Stockton and the San Joaquin Valley, and the city, like much of the country, is having to quickly reassess the numerous landmarks and holidays dedicated to the now-disgraced activist.
One day after the United Farm Workers withdrew from events celebrating Chavez, a New York Times investigation revealed that the late labor leader had allegedly groomed and sexually abused two girls. Dolores Huerta, a Stockton native and longtime co-organizer with Chavez, also told the paper that Chavez had forced her to have sex with him on two separate occasions that led to pregnancies she secretly saw to term.
In her statement posted to Instagram and Medium Wednesday, Huerta said she had kept her “secret” because she believed “the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”
“I have encouraged people to always use their voice,” she said. “I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences.”
Renaming the day that honored him
Across California and nationwide, calls grew to remove Chávez’s name from schools, parks, streets and other public spaces.
On Thursday, state lawmakers announced their intent to change Cesar Chavez Day to “Farmworkers Day,” mirroring similar steps from the cities of Los Angeles, Phoenix and Denver — the latter, choosing “Sí, Se Puede Day” — for the upcoming March 31 holiday.
Other cities, like Fresno, acted boldly. As their neighboring university veiled a Chavez statue in black plastic, councilmembers decided to rename its landmarks carrying Chavez’s name, including a boulevard.
In Stockton, as two petition signatures grow to rename a high school and downtown library that bear the late labor leader’s name, only a scattering of local leaders have spoken out about the recent allegations.
“My initial reaction was just complete shock,” said Councilmember Mario Enríquez, who in the afternoon Wednesday had put out a statement calling the allegations “painful” and “deeply serious.”
“Some(one) I grew up my entire life knowing — with all these allegations — to not be true,” he said.
Some, like Vice Mayor Jason Lee, Stockton Democrats, El Concilio and San Joaquin County Board Chairman Sonny Dhaliwal, expressed solidarity with the victims of Chavez’s abuse in statements online. Other top officials, like the county board, Mayor Christina Fugazi and City Manager Johnny Ford, have stayed radio silent.
At Stockton Unified, which houses Cesar Chavez High School, spokesperson Melinda Meza said the district “is aware of the recent allegations.” She added that if the district considered a name change, it would form an advisory committee and hold a public hearing to gather community input.
Meza declined to comment on whether the district or school board supports removing Chavez’s name from the school.
As to one city library renamed in 1994 to honor Chavez, Enriquez said he believes a “measured approach” is needed before deciding what to do with the name.
“It affects me as a person,” said Enríquez, noting that the allegations are having a “ripple effect” across Latino, immigrant, farmworker and Filipino communities in the city. “So many of us are still processing.”
At the Mexican Heritage Center and Gallery, which up until Thursday morning was adamant in holding their 14th annual Cesar Chavez remembrance breakfast, Board President Gracie Madrid stood firm that she doesn’t “believe what they say.”
“Oh well,” said Madrid over the phone Tuesday when news first broke out about the UFW pulling out of events. “One more piece of nothing.”
Expressing disbelief
Unlike the University of the Pacific and the Stockton Service Corp, which removed Cesar Chavez’s name from their joint March 28 service event, Madrid originally said the heritage center would go ahead with its fundraising event as planned.
“I’m not going to stop all our activities just because of a news thing that doesn’t even make sense,” Madrid had said.
By late Thursday morning, in a call with Stocktonia, she said the event would likely be canceled, but added that the allegations still sounded “orchestrated.” (An Instagram post for the remembrance breakfast has since been removed.)
“When I saw it all over TV and national news, it became more real — not that we believe it,” Madrid said. “People think I should change it to just farm worker things and whatever, but … it’s better to stay away from it right now.”
Magaña, a longtime advocate who himself labored in Stockton’s agriculture fields, said Chavez had once been regarded by some as a “saint,” before the reported allegations. Now, he added, resisting a more critical view feels like “un capricho” — a capricious loyalty to the late labor leader.
“They’re more interested in the man than the movement,” said Magaña in Spanish of those with an unmoving loyalty to Chavez.
Magaña said that today’s farmworkers are generations removed from activism led by Chavez, with most having heard of him only through word of mouth. Those who experienced it firsthand, he said, are now “dead” or “retired.”
“He became like a symbol of identity,” said Magaña, pointing to how politicians and public spaces across the country have honored Chavez through photographs and naming of civic landmarks. “But you have to look at the causes first.”
This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.
