Civil rights leader Cesar Chavez has faced allegations of sexual misconduct from his United Farm Workers co-founder, Dolores Huerta. Chavez passed away in 1993 at the age of 66.
An investigation by The New York Times uncovered that Chavez sexually assaulted Huerta and multiple other women.
Huerta recounted an incident on a winter night in 1966 in Delano, California. She stated that he took her to a remote field and then raped her inside the car.
She decided against reporting the assault to the authorities due to the animosity directed at the farmworker union movement, and she also felt that no one within the union would take her account seriously.
Huerta further recalled an incident which took place six years ago, when he coerced her into a sexual encounter in a hotel room while on a work trip in San Juan Capistrano, located in Southern California.
She mentioned that she felt unable to refuse Chavez “because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to.”
Cesar Chavez accused of rape: 5 things to know about shocking allegations
- Huerta’s account of the events marks the first time she has publicly shared her story, and she states that her decision to speak out was influenced by the other individuals accusing Chavez.
- She mentioned that the two sexual encounters led to pregnancies, which she kept hidden, ultimately giving birth to the children and arranging for them to be raised by others.
- Additionally, Huerta claimed that Chavez subjected her to emotional abuse. During a board meeting, he insinuated that she had embezzled funds from the organization. When she defended herself, Chavez referred to her as a “stupid b*tch.”
- The civil rights icon expressed her difficulty in reconciling the dual identity she had attributed to Chavez — one aspect as the abuser and the other as a civil rights leader.
- The Times investigation revealed that Chavez also sexually abused young girls Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas in the 1970s. Both women, now aged 66, reported that the experiences left them traumatized and contributed to the development of mental health issues.
United Farm Workers union issues statement
In the wake of the bombshell allegations, the United Farm Workers union announced that they would refrain from participating in activities on his birthday, March 31, and described the accusations as “troubling.”
“The UFW has learned of deeply troubling allegations that one of the union’s co-founders, Cesar Chavez, behaved in ways that are incompatible with our organization’s values,” the union said in a statement, as per USA TODAY. “Some of the reports are family issues, and not our story to tell or our place to comment on. Far more troubling are allegations involving abuse of young women or minors.”
