MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The legacy of a revered civil rights leader is in question amid allegations that he sexually abused girls and women. Cesar Chavez, the late cofounder of the United Farm Workers union, was a champion for farmworkers and helped overhaul labor laws. But a New York Times investigation out today reveals Chavez's alleged history of sexual assault. For more, we're joined by NPR's Adrian Florido. Hey there, Adrian.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Hi. Tell me more about these accusations against Chavez, laid out by The New York Times.
FLORIDO: Well, two women who spoke with The Times told the paper that Chavez began sexually abusing them in the 1970s, when they were 12- and 13-years-old. Debra Rojas and Ana Murguia were both daughters of organizers within the United Farm Workers. Chavez was in his 40s and was the union's president. And one of the women, Rojas, said that during a now famous UFW march across California, Chavez raped her in a motel room when she was 15.
The paper also reported another shocking allegation from Dolores Huerta, who cofounded the United Farm Workers with Chavez and was his longtime organizing partner and is still an icon in the labor movement. Now, she told The Times that on one occasion, Chavez pressured her into having sex with him, and that on another in 1966, he raped her in a car. She got pregnant from both encounters, she said, and arranged for the children to be raised by other families.
KELLY: It is important, Adrian, we need to note, NPR has not independently investigated these allegations. The Times, when it did, they say they spoke with more than 60 people. They reviewed documents. They reviewed a lot of union materials to try to corroborate these allegations. The fallout has been really fast and swift. How are...
FLORIDO: Yeah.
KELLY: ...People within the union movement reacting?
FLORIDO: Well, the fallout began even before this investigation was published today. Yesterday, the Cesar Chavez Foundation, which promotes his legacy, issued a preemptive statement saying it had become aware of, quote, "disturbing allegations" and that it was shocked and saddened. Now, the United Farm Workers also issued a statement yesterday acknowledging the allegations. It said it wanted to work to help victims of Chavez's alleged abuse, and it canceled events it had scheduled for Cesar Chavez Day on March 31. That's a state holiday here in California. Chavez celebrations in other states have also been canceled or renamed.
KELLY: The - Dolores Huerta, she's never publicly shared the allegation that Chavez raped her. How does this all recast the view of their partnership?
FLORIDO: Well, this is ground shifting. Chavez died in 1993, and he's long been a hero of the labor movement and of the Mexican American community, Mary Louise. Huerta has always spoken highly of him, but she issued a statement today saying, quote, "I am nearly 96 years old and, for the last 60 years, have kept this secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for."
These revelations are going to upend not only the view of their partnership, but also Chavez's status as a hero of labor and of Mexican Americans. I'm already seeing online calls for murals of him to be painted over and for schools and streets and community centers named after him to be renamed for Huerta.
KELLY: NPR's Adrian Florido, thank you.
FLORIDO: Thank you, Mary Louise. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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