“I am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”
Thus began a written statement on medium.com by legendary civil rights and labor activist Dolores Huerta, in which she finally reveals that she had been sexually victimized by Cesar Chavez decades earlier. She went on to say that the first time, she was pressured into having sex with Chavez; the second time, “I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.” She says that each of those assaults resulted in pregnancies.
The story became public as the result of an investigation by The New York Times, which reportedly spoke with more than 60 people and conducted other research to report that Chavez allegedly sexually assaulted women and even underage girls.
California leaders moved quickly to rename Cesar Chavez Day as Farmworkers Day, and other things bearing his name will also likely be relabeled. (There are a lot of streets, parks, community centers, libraries, schools, and regions named after Chavez, as this Wikipedia list shows, so erasing his name will likely take a while.) The United Farmworkers, cofounded by Chavez, Huerta, and others, called the allegations “profoundly shocking” and announced it would not take part in any Cesar Chavez Day activities.
We have been spared the usual charade of people trying to defend or downplay his actions. We can consider that to be one small bright spot in a rotten situation. That Huerta would keep it a secret is not a surprise; revealing it would have — is having — profound impacts on her and the organizations and people she cares about.
Coming to terms with inexcusable actions — no, let’s call them what they were, which are crimes — by someone who was widely respected is going to be painful, but it’s necessary. But let’s put Huerta in a separate category from others who should have known of Chavez’s actions. It is understandable that they would want to protect an organization and a movement and the people they represent; but it’s not O.K. Just as it is not O.K. to do it to protect a megachurch pastor, or a U.S. senator, or a business executive, or a Hollywood celebrity, or an educator. The #MeToo movement veered too quickly into equating assault and having a man interrupt a woman during a business meeting, which is unfortunate, because the movement did reveal extensive violence and harassment that likely surprised many people, and not just men.
It is understandable that people would want to protect a movement and the people it represents, but it’s not O.K.
There are so many things wrong with these crimes, but one of the worst things about the entire situation is the long-lasting effects of it. Huerta had children she placed elsewhere to be raised, who only learned recently of their origins. It will remain to be seen over time how the organizations he founded or inspired weather the controversy.
I had the pleasure of meeting Huerta once in San Francisco. Back on Jan. 25, 2018, Michelle Meow and I interviewed Huerta for an hour at The Commonwealth Club. Beforehand, I wasn’t sure what to expect; I knew she’d be to the left of me on many issues, and I have a low tolerance for the jargon and narrow-mindedness of the activist left. Yet she utterly surprised and charmed me — not because she was manipulative, but because she was very clear-sighted and inspirational when it came to describing her approach to politics and activism. I thought then and I think now that the left would do well to listen to her, because she didn’t shun people who were on the left but not in agreement with her on every detail; she made allies, she stuck to facts about the issues she was pressing (labor rights and women’s rights), and she knew that compromise isn’t a dirty word.
Compromises to build a broad coalition not only simply make passage of laws and social changes possible; they improve the laws and changes themselves, because they make them more realistic, acceptable, and applicable to more and more people. Those compromises are necessary and good.
But no one should have to make the compromises Huerta made with Chavez’s assaults.
