Something is rotten in Denmark, Dolores. Why did you wait so long to tell us about what César Chávez did to you? Back then, when you, he, and others were looking for ways to put together a farmworkers’ union.
Just so you know, I read the statement you made on the day the NY Times published its investigative report accusing César of sexually abusing underage girls and others, including you. I read it the same day it was published.
IMAGE, RIGHT: Dolores Huerta during a march in Stockton, California, in the summer of 1988. Photo by Pedro Chávez.
I want to believe most of what you said in that disclosure, by the way, but I don’t. I give credence to just part of it, mainly the bit about your involvement in the farmworker’s movement. I can attest to that; I personally saw you plenty times march for that cause, in California’s central valley. Also saw you walk miles and miles, in the company of farmworkers and others, protesting the unacceptable conditions in the fields at that time. Protesting and fighting for better treatment of the workers, for better wages. Heard you talk, too, to the farm working masses, to the general public. Fighting for the rights of the people laboring in the fields, but also for the rights of others. Heard your words at the Capitol, too, in Sacramento, and at other venues. In California and elsewhere.
There’s something else that I also give credence to in your statement. It’s the part about you being a survivor. That for sure is true. But not the type of survivor that has to do with sexual abuse; that matter is still up in the air as far as I’m concerned. It’s your word vs. the words of others when it comes to that allegation. But if César raped you, I feel for you. I really do.
You’re a survivor, as I said before. But a different kind of survivor. The type that endures and never gives up on a goal, on a cause. The kind, too, that is willing to put up with the misdeeds and excesses of others just to get a chance to one day achieve deeply rooted personal objectives. You are that type of survivor, Dolores. And I applaud you for having that toughness, and for being the bearer of that enduring personal quality.
What worries me, though, is the timing of your disclosure. Why did you keep the supposed personal sexual abuse matter hidden from the general public for so long? It needed to be disclosed if you were to ask me.
Were you aware that César was preying on underage girls and other women for personal sexual gratification? Back then, in the early years of the movement.
Something tells me you knew about it, though. How could you not have known, being so close to him, to his family, to his brother. And if you were aware of César’s sexual misdeeds, of hurting young girls, how could you keep it a secret. Something’s really rotten, Dolores.
The excuse you mention in your statement for remaining mum doesn’t fly with me, I have to tell you. Nothing’s bigger than anything else when it comes to covering up crimes, not the farmworkers movement, not anything else.
By the way, something else also tells me that others close to César knew about his sexual misconduct. Some of the corroborating evidence mentioned in the NY Times report points to that. And if those close to him knew about it, why did they keep those criminal acts under wraps. Was it for personal reasons, so they wouldn’t lose their jobs. Or for other self-serving and ulterior motives.
The immediate acceptance by the union, by the UFW leadership, of the findings in the newspaper investigative report on César’s past misdeeds, somewhat tells me that some folks close to him were aware of his sexual abuse of young women and others. Because they immediately took the allegations seriously and called them “indefensible” and “shocking.” Their response sounded familiar to me, by the way. It reminded me of the film Casablanca, a Hollywood movie in which Capt. Renault utters his famous line: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”
They knew about it, those close to him, I’m sure. They knew about those repeated criminal acts that supposedly took place then, in La Paz, in Delano, and perhaps at other places, where César Chávez was molesting women at will. They knew about it for sure, I’m telling you. And so did you, Dolores.
That’s my verdict. Based on pretty darn good circumstantial evidence. I truly wish it’d be different, but it isn’t.