Dems face reckoning after putting deceased labor leader on pedestal as sexual abuse allegations emerge
Democrats are facing a reckoning after casting César Chavez as a near-sacred figure of the American left for decades— honoring him in DNC statements, White House proclamations and annual public...
By Fox News · Fox News
Democrats are facing a reckoning after casting César Chavez as a near-sacred figure of the American left for decades— honoring him in DNC statements, White House proclamations and annual public tributes — but that long-running celebration is now colliding with newly surfaced abuse allegations serious enough that even the United Farm Workers and the Cesar Chavez Foundation have backed away from holding events honoring the late labor and civil rights leader. Allegations that a 45-year-old Chavez sexually abused and groomed minors and adults, including one girl who was as young as 13 at the time of the abuse and another who became pregnant twice following their encounters, broke Wednesday after the New York Times published allegations from Chavez's victims who largely remained silent for decades. After the news, the labor union César Chavez helped found, United Farm Workers, called the allegations "profoundly shocking" and decided to cancel its upcoming annual celebrations honoring him. Meanwhile, the César Chavez Foundation opted to do the same, describing the allegations as "disturbing" and noting they were "deeply shocked and saddened." CESAR CHAVEZ DAY CANCELED BY UNIONS AFTER ‘TROUBLING’ SEXUAL ALLEGATIONS AGAINST CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER In 2010, President Barack Obama issued a presidential proclamation declaring March 31 César Chavez Day. You would have to go back to Bill Clinton, before César Chavez Day even existed, to find a Democratic Party president who did not honor him during the month of March. Obama began the tradition in 2009, issuing an official White House statement explicitly commemorating "César Chavez's birthday" and praising his legacy as a civil rights and labor leader. The following year, he announced the first official César Chavez Day to be held March 31 every year, and then subsequently, every year thereafter, put out a statement in honor of him. The tradition was then picked up when former President Joe Biden took office in 2021. "The hypocrisy…