LA County renames Cesar Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day, with plans for future renamings
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved renaming Cesar Chavez Day on March 31 to Farmworkers Day and voted to revisit a method for renaming various county parks, buildings, and sites that bear the Cesar Chavez name.
Supervisor Hilda Solis said at Tuesday's meeting that, considering the sexual violence allegations against Chavez, "It is our collective responsibility to quickly address these wrongs so that our communities can begin the process of healing."
Allegations of sexual abuse against Chavez were revealed last week in a New York Times investigation, accusing the late labor leader of rape and abuse against several women and girls.
Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in the 1960s with Chavez, and after the report came out, she corroborated allegations of abuse and said that she had two non-consensual sexual encounters with Chavez that ended in pregnancy.
Changing the March 31 holiday name within the county follows suit with the state's decision to rename Cesar Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day.
"This acknowledges the legacy of farm workers, addresses ongoing challenges and reaffirms our commitment to their dignity and rights. It's also in alignment with the state's recent legislation …to rename the holiday accordingly," Solis said.
The board agreed to develop a community-driven process for renaming parks, streets, county facilities, real property, monuments and other programs that currently bear Cesar Chavez's name, including removal of related imagery and civic artworks, with a report back in 21 days.
Joe Nicchitta, acting LA County CEO, said there isn't a central inventory of every property with the Cesar Chavez name attached to it, but that the process is well underway.
"We think we have a relatively good handle of things like buildings, signage, civic art and even programs," Nicchitta said. "The process needs to unfold. I think we need a few more days to really make sure we have a complete inventory."
He also affirmed Supervisor Holly Mitchell's suggestion that this is a good time to reexamine county naming policies and procedures.
"And I hope that we as an elected body, and that collectively, we use this opportunity to really think through the naming of public assets on behalf of private people," Mitchell said.
