MILWAUKEE — The Cesar Chavez Day celebration in Milwaukee has been canceled amid sexual abuse and grooming allegations made against the late labor leader and civil rights activist.
READ ALSO | Allegations against labor rights icon Cesar Chavez lead to cancellation of celebrations
The allegations were reported in a New York Times article published Wednesday.
"To any survivor who is carrying something heavy today: You are believed, and you are not alone," Milwaukee Alderperson JoCasta Zamarripa said in a statement.
Chavez is known nationally for his early organizing in the fields and for his eventual victory in getting growers to negotiate with farmworkers for better wages and working conditions.
Watch: Milwaukee cancels Cesar Chavez Day events after sexual abuse allegations
"Cesar Chavez’s contributions to the farmworker movement and to Latino civil rights are a matter of historical record. So is this," Zamarripa said. "Both things are true, and our community deserves leaders who will say so clearly rather than ask survivors to wait while we process our own grief."
In 1962, Chavez and Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which became the United Farm Workers of America.
When the New York Times investigation went public, Huerta issued a statement recalling her own sexual assault at the hands of Chavez.
“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," Huerta said.
Forward Latino, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan service and advocacy organization headquartered in Franklin, Wis., issued a statement saying in part:
"This movement has never been about any one individual; it has always been about the people. It is grounded in the dignity of all, from farmworkers in the fields to students in our schools, and in the ongoing pursuit of justice. Upholding these values requires recognizing that no one is above accountability, whether they lead a movement, a major corporation, or a government."
The United Farm Workers urged people to participate in immigration-justice events or acts of service during March instead of holding events commemorating Chavez's legacy.
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