In the years after labor leader Cesar Chavez joined a historic Las Vegas picket line shortly before he died, he became the namesake of an east valley park and a ceremonial road.
Not only was he the subject of annual celebrations thrown in his honor, the Nevada Legislature in 2009 passed a passed a law requiring the governor to proclaim Cesar Chavez Day every March 31.
Supporters of that tradition were left reeling this week by a New York Times investigation that uncovered accusations that Chavez was a sexual predator who abused children and fellow labor icon Dolores Huerta. The revelations have led to a swift national fallout that has left officials and organizers disavowing the man behind a labor movement he co-founded and became the face of.
Nevada officials said they are re-evaluating their association with Chavez.
“In the end, there will always be that asterisk after his name,” historian Maria Raquel Casas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Him and his image will be tarnished by this, as it should be.”
‘Moment of reflection’
Casas, who retired from UNLV as a emerita associate professor after more than a quarter-century, said she understands why Chavez was revered in the first place.
Chavez seemed like an ideal candidate to head the National Farm Workers Association: an articulate, humble leader who projected strength, she said. He was a spokesman for voiceless farm workers at the bottom of the labor pool, who regularly were called cockroaches.
She worries that a rush to minimize him as a person will lead to full-erasure of what he represented.
“I fear the tendency to erase rather than examine,” she said. “This is a moment of reflection for organizations and the community.”
It should be asked, Casas said: “Why did we lionize this man so much? It’s time to, I think, rightfully diminish, lessen the shine of his aura.”
‘Reviewing our options’
The Associated Press reported Thursday that California was moving to rename the state’s Cesar Chavez Day holiday to Farmworkers Day.
“Our office is aware of the troubling allegations against Cesar Chavez,” Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office told the Review-Journal Thursday. “Since the Governor is mandated by state law to proclaim March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day, we are reviewing our options.”
Added in the statement: “This situation illustrates just one of the reasons why Governor Lombardo has vetoed bills that statutorily mandate proclamations.”
Clark County did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the future of Cesar E. Chavez Park in far east Las Vegas, which was named in the labor leader’s honor in 2002.
The city of Las Vegas is reviewing a ceremonial street sign placed in a in 2014 ceremony attended by his family members naming a portion of Pecos Road near Charleston Boulevard and Owens Avenue as Camino Cesar Chavez., a spokesperson said Thursday.
On Wednesday, the holders of a Chavez sculpture unveiled in Las Vegas in 2024 disavowed him.
“In light of these disturbing reports, which are substantiated as more survivors step forward, we are halting any and all formal recognition of Cesar Chavez. Let us be clear: Our work has never been defined by one individual,” a statement from the Chicanos Por La Causa nonprofit said.
An annual celebration in Reno was renamed as the Solidarity Celebration Dinner, the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council announced.
“The decision to rename the event follows allegations that emerged this morning regarding Cesar Chavez, prompting organizations nationwide, including the United Farm Workers, to step back from activities bearing his name,” the organization said.
‘Bigger than one person’
Prominent national Latino-centered organizations quickly came out against Chavez and threw their support behind his victims.
Nevada groups and elected officials did, too.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said she was horrified by the revelations.
“Before anything else, my heart is with the women and children hurt by his inexcusable, predatory actions,” she said in a statement.
“These are heartbreaking revelations, especially for those of us who have been inspired by the United Farm Workers’ movement,” the statement said. “But Cesar Chavez was neither alone in this work nor can his actions diminish the progress that Latinos and workers across this country fought to achieve.”
Chavez picketed with Culinary Workers Union Local 226 as Frontier employees embarked in one of the longest labor protests in history, just months before his death in 1993.
In a statement, union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge condemned any abuse of power, sexual misconduct or violence against women or children.
“The labor movement has always been bigger than any one person,” he said. “While Cesar came to our picket lines, strikes, and supported Culinary Union members, no leader or legacy is more important than the rank-and-file workers who are organizing to win a better future for themselves and their families.”
‘Very flawed man’
Casas, the UNLV historian, said Huerta was always the United Farm Workers leader more prominently present in Nevada.
The city of North Las Vegas made her the namesake of a multilingual resource hub. The 95-year-old civil rights activist addressed the crowd celebrating The Dolores Huerta Resource Center’s 2025 opening through a video.
She revealed the abuse she’d suffered for the first time in this week’s New York Times interview.
Lombardo last year vetoed a bill that would’ve proclaimed the Dolores Huerta Day every April 10. Bill sponsor Assemblymember Cinthia Zermeño Moore said she planned to re-introduce the legislation.
“We should definitely celebrate people — like Dolores Huerta — who have been fighting for our rights,” she said.
As a Mexican-American woman, she said she was disappointed to learn about the Chavez allegations.
“We must believe survivors, Zermeño Moore said. “And I stand by Dolores Huerta and the survivors, as well.”
It was a similar sentiment expressed by her colleagues in the Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus.
“Latino empowerment must include creating spaces where women are protected, respected, and heard,” added Assemblymember Selena Torres-Fossett.
Casas noted that Chavez had been an unstable figure in his later years, sidelining anyone who challenged his authority.
While she was saddened by the revelations, she said that she unfortunately wasn’t surprised.
“Now we have to turn the page and look at him as a man,” Casas said. “And now 30 years later, we can now see him as a very flawed man. That doesn’t excuse what he did, but we need the balance and understanding of the past.”
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
