Antonio Bustamante has kept a watercolor of labor leader for more than 35 years, hanging it on the wall of his law office in Yuma, Arizona. As a young man, he was moved by Chavez and helped organize workers before joining his security team.
Like many others, Bustamante must now wrestle with reconciling the man he adored with the allegations that Chavez women and young girls.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to figure out how emotionally and intellectually I鈥檒l be able to understand my perception of him as an extremely good man,鈥� Bustamante said, his voice heavy with emotion, 鈥渃ompared to these things that are said he did.鈥�
Multiple states, cities and counties marked what for years had been on Tuesday as Farmworkers Day. Colorado made the name change official in the morning, while Nevada’s governor simply declined to sign a proclamation. In California, the occasion is a recognized state holiday. State and some local government offices were closed.
They all took swift public action after the allegations came out. Within days, were removed and celebrations canceled or , including events tied to the March 31 federal holiday.
Chavez built a national reputation . With Dolores Huerta 鈥� 鈥� he co-founded the United Farm Workers union, led a hunger strike, a grape boycott , and eventually pressured growers to negotiate better wages and working conditions for Mexican American farmworkers.
Nearly two weeks after a New York Times report detailing allegations of sexual abuse, communities and rights groups across the country are still figuring out how he should be remembered. from monuments, streets and murals around the country.
Reckoning with a legacy
Bustamante said he learned of the allegations when an old friend called to tell him about the upcoming report. What flashed through his mind, he said, were the faces of others who had known and admired Chavez, and 鈥渉ow their eyes would be devastated.鈥�
鈥淲e were looked down upon by society, we were Mexicans,鈥� Bustamante said, recalling the first time he saw Chavez speak outside the Arizona Capitol in 1972 as he launched a hunger strike. He 鈥済ave us worth, and for young people that was everything.鈥�
Now, some of Bustamante’s friends have taken down images of Chavez. In his community, Bustamante likened it to denouncing Catholicism and removing photos of the pope.
Bustamante said he thinks there鈥檚 a 鈥済ood chance鈥� the allegations are true, but adds that he has unanswered questions from his time by Chavez鈥檚 side 鈥� and because he’s a public defense attorney 鈥� that keep the debate going in his head.
One person does not make a movement
For many, it’s an example of why movements should not be tied to a single leader.
Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers, said the contradiction between Chavez’s legacy and the allegations is unavoidable.
鈥淲e have in one hand C茅sar Chavez, the man who committed horrible acts that we鈥檙e not going to justify,鈥� Romero said. 鈥淥n the other hand, we have C茅sar Chavez, the organizer who brought thousands and thousands of people together to be able to work for farmworkers, and improve their lives and working conditions.鈥�
Unfortunately, both of those things came from the same person, Romero said.
Sehila Mota Casper, executive director of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, said the farmworker movement was always driven by collective effort.
鈥淭he rights and protections that came from it belongs to the people that built it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just one individual.鈥�
That perspective, she said, offers a way to move forward: recognizing Chavez’s role without letting it overshadow the contributions of others, including Huerta, and the challenges they faced.
Advocacy groups like the nonprofit Voto Latino took a similar stance, saying, 鈥淭he women who organized, marched, and sacrificed alongside farmworkers carried this movement on their backs.鈥�
Dismantling a man, preserving history
Political leaders from both parties have condemned the alleged abuse. Some Republicans, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, cited it as part of a broader criticism of Chavez’s progressive legacy.
Abbott said Texas 鈥� a state with dozens of Confederate monuments 鈥� would no longer celebrate C茅sar Chavez Day, saying the allegations 鈥渦ndermine the narrative that elevated Chavez as a figure worthy of official state celebration.鈥�
At the same time, groups like the nonpartisan Latino Victory Project, which focuses on developing Hispanic political leadership, said the current moment should not distract from the still-ongoing civil rights battles.
鈥淭hose legacies are unchanged,鈥� said Paul Ortiz, a labor history professor at Cornell University and director of graduate studies for Latino Studies. 鈥淎nd those legacies are all about people power.鈥�
What seems inevitable, Bustamante said, is that there will always be an asterisk next to Chavez鈥檚 name.
鈥淒oes that take away the greatness of what his accomplishments were, the meaning of them? No, it doesn鈥檛,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut can we look past that to honor him? That鈥檚 the tough part.鈥�
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