Rebecca Amezcua-Hogan grew up listening to stories about the oppression of Latinos and their fight for civil rights. She often heard the name César Chávez.
“Chávez was an icon, growing up,” said Amezcua-Hogan, now 31 and running for the Kansas City Council’s 4th District. “He did tons for the Hispanic Latino movement, visibility, labor rights.”
Those stories followed her when she moved to Kansas City’s Westside neighborhood about five years ago. She was amazed by how the neighborhood honored Chávez. Part of 23rd street carries the name, Avenida César E Chávez, and a mural is visible farther down the road.
Like many within that community, Amezcua-Hogan was shocked and disturbed by a bombshell report from The New York Times detailing Chávez's history of allegedly sexually abusing women within his own movements.
“This is not something that we expected or thought of behavior that would be conducted by somebody that we all looked up to,” she said.
She says it’s time to rethink how Chávez is remembered throughout the city. In an online statement, Amezcua-Hogan said Kansas City "must begin the process of removing Chávez’s name from 23rd Street Trafficway in the Westside.”
Cesar Chávez was known for leading American labor and civil rights movements in advocating for better treatment for farm workers. In 1962, he cofounded the United Farm Workers (UFW), a union fighting for workers’ rights.
Chávez is accused of sexually abusing multiple women during his time as the president of the UFW, some of whom were underage. One, Dolores Huerta, helped co-found the organization with him.
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Local historian Dr. Gene T. Chavez, no relation to César, met with Chávez and his family before the icon died in 1993. Gene Chavez said that while he didn’t know about the allegations until the New York Times broke the story this week, allegations of civil rights leaders taking advantage of their followers come out all too often.
“It's sad to realize that the balance of power is taken advantage of by individuals who have the opportunity to exert power over others,” said Gene Chavez.
Now that the abuse allegations have come to light, Gene suspects people will tell Chávez’s history differently.
“Not only in street names, building names, but even in books and children's books,” said Gene Chavez. “Yet, the Achilles heel, so to speak, needs to be placed in balance with the work that he accomplished.”
Amezcua-Hogan says that, though his intentions were noble, Chávez was just one man behind the movement. She says it is time to recognize those who supported him.
“To tie that along with the stories that we are hearing now, and how often Hispanic women, that we're erased in a lot of these conversations,” she said. ”Recentering them, and instead of making it about one single person, talking about the movement.”
She says the city council should reach out immediately to get community input on renaming the part of 23rd Street named after the labor rights leader
Current Fourth District Councilman Crispin Rea condemned Cesar Chávez’s actions in an online statement. He said that he is working with the Westside community to reevaluate his legacy.
