Hazel Davalos, co-executive director of the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), spoke with KSBY about the organization's reaction to the New York Times investigation into Cesar Chavez.
"Hearing the news of this week's allegations really brought us grief and hurt," said Davalos.
Chávez is one of the founders of the United Farm Workers Union, which championed farmworker rights. In the New York Times article, two women accuse the civil rights leader of sexually abusing them when they were minors.
In the same article, Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the UFW with Chavez, said she was also sexually assaulted by him. Organizing Director Juvenal Solano of the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) told me the news is incredibly disappointing.
Solano worked as an organizer for the UFW for 6 years, and as he says, they are also standing with the survivors. They have decided to reschedule a press conference about paying farmworkers a living wage, which they had planned for Cesar Chavez Day.
Other California officials and organizations have been quick to condemn Chavez, with many pushing to rename his holiday.
Recently, Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg, president of the Latino Caucus of California Counties, released a statement.
"As members of this community, the Latino Caucus of California Counties stands with the women who have come forward. With deep respect, we recognize the lifelong impact of the harm they endured and the long wait to be heard and believed."
