California civil rights leader Dolores Huerta has died at the age of 96 — just months after airing horrific rape claims against Cesar Chavez.
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Huerta → die → Chavez
Huerta made the stunning revelation in March, leading many organizations and individuals across California to condemn the late Chavez and strip his name off monuments.
“We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved mother, Dolores Huerta, has passed away today at the age of 96,” the family of Huerta said in a Facebook post Wednesday morning.
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family → make → post
“As you can imagine, this is an incredibly difficult time for us, and we ask for privacy as we grieve this incredible loss to our family.
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we → imagine → family
We know that many of you around the world share in our mourning, and we will be following up on plans to recognize and celebrate her incredible life and legacy.”
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we → know → life
Chavez died in 1993 after famously leading a major labor movement in California in the 1960s and 70s.
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Chavez → die → 1960s
A New York Times investigation in March revealed Chavez sexually abused Huerta and several other women throughout his rise.
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Chavez → reveal → rise
She specified in detail Chavez’s abuse, saying her raped her inside a vehicle on a winter night in 1966 in Delano, California.
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her → specify → Delano
She chose not to report the assault to the police because of the hostility towards the farmworker union movement, and also believed no one within the union would believe her story.
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one → choose → story
Huerta also described an encounter six years earlier when he pressured her to have sex with him in a hotel room during a work trip in San Juan Capistrano in Southern California.
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he → describe → California
She said she couldn’t say no to 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.”
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I → say → life
The Times investigation found Chavez also sexually abused then-girls Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas in the ’70s.
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Chavez → find → 70s
Both women said the encounters traumatized them and led them to develop mental health disorders.
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encounters → say → disorders
Celebrations in his name across California were canceled, statues of him came down, and his name was erased from street names, schools, and other buildings.
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name → cancel → names
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill the same month the allegations were revealed, renaming César Chavez Day as Farmworkers Day.
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allegations → sign → Day
Huerta took a prominent role alongside Chavez at the National Farm Workers Association, now the United Farm Workers.
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Huerta → take → Association
She became known for her “Si, se puede,” rallying cry.
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She → know → cry
At the same time, she endured sexual abuse from Chavez that resulted in several pregnancies.
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that → endure → pregnancies
She described the horrifying encounters.
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She → describe → encounters
“The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to,” she said in a statement after the investigation was made public.
“The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.”
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I → manipulate → environment
A prominent Chavez biographer said his web of sexual abuse remained untangled and hidden because the movement, his foundation, and his United Farm Workers brainchild benefited from his positive image.
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movement → say → image
Author and Dartmouth University professor Matthew Garcia said he “became too big to fail.”
“The consequences are that these women’s suffering and violations were covered up oftentimes at the hands of the movement, and even the families that served it,” he told The Post.
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he → say → Post
He said Huerta’s claims were “earth-shattering.”
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claims → say → ?
“It underscores something that I argued in my book in 2012…the movement was always bigger than Cesar and the hero worship that everybody participated in was detrimental to remembering the people that made the farm workers union great,” he added.
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he → underscore → people
Garcia told NBC News that Huerta is “the most famous Latina that has ever been in the labor movement, and the renown was well-earned.”
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renown → tell → movement
Former President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, in 2012.
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Obama → award → 2012
The family did not reveal Huerta’s cause of death.
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family → reveal → death
The Aporia
