A California museum has taken back the highest state honor from activist Cesar Chavez as sexual abuse allegations come up.
According to new reports, the California Museum in Sacramento announced that it will be removing Cesar Chavez from the California Hall of Fame. The decision comes from the museum’s board of trustees, who met earlier this week. This is the first time that a person was removed from the California Hall of Fame, the highest state honor in California.
The decision comes in the light of a New York Times investigation that unearthed a string of sexual abuse allegations against the labor leader and union activist. The investigation interviewed over 60 women associated with Chavez, as well as archives of internal reviews at the unions. The report revealed that Cesar Chavez had sexually abused multiple women in the 1970s, many of them minors, as well as sexual misconduct against adult women coworkers and acquaintances. The most shocking name, perhaps, was his partner in activism, Dolores Huerta.
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Since the news broke, there has been an intense debate around the legacy of the famed labor leader and civil rights activist. The United Farm Workers, the organization Chavez co-founded, has already cancelled the events that were planned around his birthday. His mural in San Francisco was painted over by unknown elements. Meanwhile, California lawmakers are discussing whether to remove the various honors, streets, and institutes named after him – including the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who has revealed the possibility of cancelling the public holiday on his birthday.
