For decades, Cesar Chavez has been seen as an icon and hero of Latino and Civil Rights struggles as the organizer and leader of the UFW (United Farmworkers Union). He has been celebrated with marches and holidays, statues and murals, and schools and parks have been named after him in many states. The news that he preyed on and sexually violated young girls and women came as a shock to many. Organizations, cities, and states around the country are removing public displays that honor him. Murals are being altered and his name is being removed from streets and schools. The many end-of-March celebrations of his birthday are being cancelled.
A recent New York Times report has exposed what he did to women and girls who looked up to him in the farmworkers movement. This included Dolores Huerta, one of the main leaders of the UFW. These actions by Chavez remained secret for decades.
We live in a class society run by the rich and powerful. These people exert their power and authority over others in many ways. Traditionally, this power has rested in the hands of men. The Epstein files exposed the actions of some of these men who were brought together by Epstein and, as they made their deals, also sexually exploited young women and girls. The “Me Too” movement of 2017 exposed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men in the entertainment industry who used their power to coerce women to have sex with them. This role of male dominance isn’t limited to those at the top. There are also many examples in our unions, social movements, NGOs, and left organizations. Chavez is just the latest to be exposed.
Why does it often take decades for this behavior to be revealed and reported? Often when women come forward to report these abuses, they are questioned and ridiculed and not believed. Especially when it is young girls going up against powerful men, like in the Epstein cases.
In addition to how difficult it is to come forward and to be taken seriously and believed, all of these women felt a deep loyalty to the union organizing and the struggles they were involved in. They were afraid that bringing charges against Chavez would hurt the union cause and the struggles they believed in. And their fears were correct, given the attitudes of this society and the united opposition of the rich growers and corporate heads to the widespread support for the courageous activity of the farm workers.
This left Chavez in a position of unchecked power, unaccountable to the union membership, the farmworker community, and the many others who were active in the movement that he led. Unchecked power like his can easily lead to manipulation and exploitation of those in less prominent roles. When we accept such a leader-centered way to organize and the successes and achievements of a movement are focused on those who play key and very public roles as leaders, we totally distort the real history of these struggles. And this also ignores the essential contributions of all those who were active in them.
The farmworkers and the Latino community that fought for a union and for civil rights and recognition number in the thousands, tens of thousands, even millions. It was their collective and determined struggle that brought about a change. The fights of the farmworkers and Latinos in this country cannot be diminished and should continue to be honored with marches, celebrations, murals, and in many other ways.
We cannot ignore the quick response to these revelations across the country. This is certainly in sharp contrast to the response to what was revealed in the Epstein files. How many years did it take for some of the Epstein information to become public, despite lawsuits and FBI and other investigations? What is public and what isn’t? And why? The fact that most of the information is still kept secret shouldn’t be of any surprise to any of us. This is the accepted behavior of rich and powerful men, and it is, for the most part, protected by rich and powerful men.
These attitudes and actions do not reflect our morality. The society we are fighting for will eliminate all forms of exploitation, not just exploitation for economic reasons. As we are active and organize in various struggles, we must be vigilant and refuse to accept this society’s model of allowing our organizations and our struggles to be run and dominated by a few leaders. They need to be organized democratically by those involved in our struggles. That means we must not tolerate behavior that values men more than women or makes exceptions for those in leadership positions at the expense of everyone else.
