Texas activists latest group to condemn Cesar Chavez after sexual abuse report

Fousia Abdullahi, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Mar 19, 2026

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Over the course of this week, numerous organizations have taken steps to withdraw support for labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, who died in 1993.

The backlash came after the New York Times published an investigation into Chavez after multiple women — including Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America — came forward with allegations that Chavez had sexually abused them.

Huerta published a statement on social media on March 18 saying that Chavez had raped and impregnated her twice in the 1960s.

“I am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for,” Huerta said in the statement.

The Cesar Chavez & Dolores Huerta Committee was a co-organizer of the upcoming “No Kings” protest in Fort Worth on March 28, and organizers were gearing up for the third protest since last summer against President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies when the report came to light.

“The allegations described in that reporting are deeply troubling,” said Indivisible TX12 and Fort Worth Area Indivisible organizers in a news release. “We also recognize and honor the statement made by Dolores Huerta, co-founder of UFW, who has spoken publicly about harm she experienced. Her voice, and the voices of other women, deserve to be heard and taken seriously.”

Chavez and Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers of America, a union dedicated to making sure workers made a livable wage and had better working conditions.

“Indivisible TX12 and Fort Worth Area Indivisible stand in solidarity with the former Cesar Chavez & Dolores Huerta Committee as they determine their future in this work,” according to a news release by the group. “Our chapters believe that all leaders — past and present — must be held accountable, and that the safety, dignity, and well-being of organizers, activists, and their families must always come first.”

The organization has since changed its name from the Cesar Chavez & Dolores Huerta Committee to the ¡Sí Se Puede! Committee of Tarrant County.

“At a time when too many in power refuse accountability for harm and continue to attack workers’ rights, women’s rights, voting rights, and immigrant communities, we believe our responsibility is clear: to stand for justice in all forms, without exception,” the statement from the “No Kings” organizers read.

The first “No Kings” protest last year drew about 6,500 people to downtown Fort Worth, including veterans who said they were standing up for constitutional rights.

The Fort Worth protest will start at General Worth Square on Main Street with speakers and performers, followed by the march at 4 p.m. under the watch of the Fort Worth Police Department.

Indivisible TX12 and Fort Worth Area Indivisible are not the only ones distancing themselves.

So far, several state leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, have called for the cancellation or replacement of Chavez Day.

The City of Fort Worth is also planning to remove the honorary street signs with Chavez’s name.

“We are committed to creating spaces rooted in safety, trust, and transformation, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the new ¡Sí Se Puede! Committee of Tarrant County,” the “No Kings” organizers said.

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