In a town close to the farmworker movement, some struggle to process Chavez allegations

DELANO, Calif. — A few hours north of Los Angeles, the small city of Delano is surrounded by miles and miles of grapevines, orange groves and almond orchards. According to Monike Reynozo, everyone here either works in those fields, or knows someone who does.

"This is what drives and fuels our city," she said.

Reynozo works for a youth advocacy group known as Loud For Tomorrow, but she said her parents were farmworkers, and their parents before them.

On a recent spring morning, she's walking down an alley to a brightly colored mural that covers the side of a building in the center of town. It shows people in sun hats harvesting fruit, and a little girl proudly holding a bunch of plump, purple grapes.

"It really showcases some of our local farm labor movement leaders as well as the diverse faces of Delano," she said.

One of the most prominent faces on the mural is César Chavez, who lived in Delano for nine years. The city was also home to the first headquarters of the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union, which he cofounded in the 1960s and has been lobbying for reforms to farm labor ever since. He's long been considered a local hero.

Monike Reynozo, associate director of programs for the non-profit Loud for Tomorrow, stands in front of a mural depicting Cesar Chavez and other leaders of the farm labor movement in downtown Delano, Calif. on March 29.

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Jennifer Emerling for NPR

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A mural depicting civil rights icon Cesar Chavez, along with other leaders of the farm labor movement in downtown Delano, Calif. on March 29. In the fallout of the sexual abuse allegations against Chavez, many landmarks are under review to be renamed and his likeness is being taken down across California.

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Jennifer Emerling for NPR

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But earlier this month the New York Times published a bombshell investigation alleging the late civil rights leader sexually abused young girls in the 1970s, and raped his longtime ally and co-leader in the farmworkers labor movement, Dolores Huerta in the 1960s. The investigation came out nearly two weeks before Chavez's birthday – March 31 – which has long been a holiday in many places. And in the aftermath of the allegations, some states, including California, have scrambled to rename the day. Meanwhile, farmworker communities are reeling – especially in Central California, which became the cradle of the farm labor movement.

As Reynozo looks up at his portrait, she says the allegations against him are heartbreaking. He was one of her role models. But she thinks this mural – and the farmworker narrative – don't need him anymore.

"He's just one individual amongst, you know, thousands of people who have been fighting for this and continue to fight for it," she said.

No consensus among Delano residents on how to process allegations

Across California, statues of Chavez are being torn down and elected officials are moving to erase his name from public spaces.

Some in Delano are pushing for similar changes. The Delano Joint Union High School District voted last week to rename Cesar E. Chavez High School. And city leaders are likely to discuss renaming the city's Cesar Chavez Park in a city council meeting in early April.

"Everything that we want to take into account, for how does accountability look like at the Delano level, will be on the table," said city councilmember Bryan Osorio.

But he's not certain the city council will vote to make changes, because there's a lot of resistance here.

Cesar E. Chavez High School in Delano, Calif. After sexual abuse allegations came out against Cesar Chavez, local students organized a petition to change the name of the school.

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Jennifer Emerling for NPR

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Cesar E. Chavez Park in Delano, Calif. In the fallout of the sexual abuse allegations against Chavez, the park is under review to be renamed by city council.

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Jennifer Emerling for NPR

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Chavez's union helped transform conditions for farmworkers – including higher pay, work breaks, and even bathrooms, which weren't guaranteed in the fields. That changed people's lives. And that's why, Osorio says, many are struggling with the allegations against Chavez. Some even feel angry at his accusers.

"This man was a huge part of Delano's history, is still part of Delano's history," Osorio said. "There's always going to be folks who are skeptical."

That includes Armando Pulido. He picks grapes in the nearby town of Earlimart. And like a lot of farmworkers in the area, he says he doesn't believe Chavez's accusers.

"I think everything is a lie, that they made up, because they came out with it now after Chavez died," he said in Spanish. "Why didn't they bring it up while he was alive?"

Dolores Huerta explained why she waited to come forward in an interview with Latino USA on March 19.

"When people say, why didn't you leave? Why didn't you tell people? Well, this is why, because I felt that my coming out and saying what occurred would have hurt the movement," she said.

United Farm Workers leaders Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez display photos of the conditions that farmworkers endure in San Joaquin Valley farm labor camps at a news conference outside U.S. District Court in Fresno, California, on Nov. 21, 1989.

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Richard Darby/Fresno Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

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The New York Times reported that some people had previously been made aware of abuse claims by two other women – Ana Murgia and Debra Rojas – and nothing came of it. They cited internal emails among union members about Murgia's claims going back over a decade. And they also said Rojas posted a message over ten years ago about Chavez's alleged abuse to a private Facebook group for longtime Chavez organizers and supporters – and "was accused by some who saw it or heard about it of jeopardizing all that had been accomplished." NPR has not independently confirmed these details.

Some see an opportunity for more informed conversations

Whether or not the city ultimately erases Chavez's name from public spaces, some think this is an opportunity to highlight other pivotal labor leaders – including Filipino organizer Larry Itliong.

Itliong, who was born in 1913, organized farmworkers for decades before Chavez and Huerta came along. And Filipino workers under Itliong's leadership started the 1965 Delano Grape Strike, which later led to the founding of the UFW.

"A lot of Filipinos, to this day, we always say: without Larry Itliong, there'd be no Cesar Chavez," said Rogelio "Roger" Gadiano, who was born in the Philippines and grew up in Delano.

Cesar Chevez's Huelga Day March in San Francisco, 1966: Julio Hernandez (UFW officer), Larry Itliong (UFW director), and Cesar Chavez.

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Gerald French/Corbis via Getty Images

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Gadiano worked in the fields off and on from childhood into middle age. Today, he leads tours of local historical sites that were important to the early farm labor movement. That includes The Forty Acres, a sprawling site on the outskirts of town that held the UFW's first headquarters as well as a retirement village for aging Filipino farmworkers.

Gadiano wishes Itliong's story – and the story of Filipino farmworkers – were better known.

"We got buried in history," he said. "We were the spark, the ultimate spark."

Whatever happens with Chavez's legacy, Gadiano hopes this situation can lead to more informed conversations about farmworker history.

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