I did not want the day to pass without addressing the horrifying and deeply researched New York Times report that farm worker labor leader César Chávez sexually abused numerous girls for years. Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers and has been a central figure in the civil rights movement for decades, revealed she was “manipulated and pressured” to have sex with him and in a second, separate incident, was raped. Both resulted in pregnancies; she arranged for the babies to be adopted.
In a moving statement, Huerta stated, “I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work.” She added, “I have never identified myself as a victim, but I now understand that I am a survivor — of violence, of sexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control.”
Through the Times investigation, she learned she was not the only survivor. “My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years,” she said. “There are no words strong enough to condemn those deplorable actions that he did.”
The news shocked and stunned millions of people who had long considered Chávez a hero, including all of us at The Contrarian. We fully associate with the comments from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, LULAC, the UFW, and The Feminist Majority, as well as innumerable progressive politicians and organizations who have denounced his behavior while expressing support for and solidarity with the survivors. We agree with calls to remove Chavez’s name from commemorations, streets, buildings, etc.
However, the farmworkers movement is not defined by an individual — and never has been. As Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi noted, “A movement is about the people — not any one person — and its strength lies in the values it upholds. We can honor the farmworker movement — and the generations who sacrificed to build it — while also confronting painful truths. No legacy is above accountability.” While we are shaken to our core, we continue to honor the tens of thousands of farm labor activists.
We are immensely proud of the way in which the labor and civil rights community has responded. They do not defend or minimize the indefensible; they utterly condemn his actions, as they reaffirm commitment to the causes of labor rights and social justice. The difference between a movement based on commitment to the dignity of all people and a cult of personality is that the former holds the powerful accountable, does not treat survivors as dispensable, and recognizes that any social justice movement worthy of our support is far greater than one individual. When people in positions of power — even those whose work has been previously honored — abuse others, they must be held responsible. When the individual has passed away, we must strive to correct the mythologies of their historical record.
Finally, the Times’ investigative work and sensitive treatment of survivors deserve high praise. This report exemplifies why a vigorous, independent press dedicated to upholding the truth is essential to democracy and social justice.
In the days ahead, we will have more to say and will lift up the names and work of so many other figures in the farm labor movement who sacrificed and toiled to give others the rights and humane working conditions they deserve.
The common denominator: powerful men.
Not trans men, not drag queens, not immigrants. Just men.
Most women can relate.
I met Ms Huerta and her daughter in 2017. She was speaking on a charter cruise I was on. Powerful woman. And she has done what other powerful women have done. Share her secrets to help other women. What a burden she must have carried for many, many years. And what courage she has to speak up now.