Free Republic

The canonized legacy of Cesar Chavez is collapsing under revelations that recast a sainted activist as a deeply flawed—and possibly predatory—man the Left can no longer easily defend. Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers, eventually became the symbolic leader of the entire Mexican American community of the 1960s and 1970s. Indeed, he was eventually enshrined in the pantheon of modern leftist activists and civil rights leaders alongside Saul Alinsky, Martin Luther King Jr., and Betty Friedan. His Chavez Foundation today emphasizes Chavez’s saintlike status as “a genuinely religious and spiritual figure.” His Tehachapi redoubt remains a national monument....

Top California Democrats have moved to officially strike disgraced union boss Cesar Chavez‘s name from an official state holiday — saying they’ll pass a bill to rename to celebration before the end of the month. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday he’ll support a plan to rebrand March 31 — celebrated since 2000 as Cesar Chavez Day after the labor activist and accused child rapist — as Farmworkers Day. California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón are scrambling to pass the bill before the end of the month. “The farmworkers’ movement was always bigger than just...

Allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior and abuse of young women or girls have emerged against iconic late labor organizer Cesar Chavez, and the ​union he co-founded will not take part in annual celebrations of him, ‌according to statements on Tuesday. The Cesar Chavez Foundation, which preserves memorials including his California gravesite, said the alleged "inappropriate sexual behavior" occurred while Chavez was president of the United Farm Workers Union, which he co-founded ​in 1962. The union said there were allegations that Chavez "behaved in ways that are ​incompatible with our organization’s values" while adding that it had no direct ⁠reports or...