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Cesar Chavez Day is getting a new name. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Following a New York Times<\/em> investigation<\/a> detailing the late civil rights leader\u2019s alleged abuse against women and girls, California has decided to rename Cesar Chavez Day, traditionally celebrated on March 31, Farmworkers Day.<\/p>\n Now the new name is gaining traction elsewhere.<\/p>\n In 2000, California was the first state to commemorate Cesar Chavez Day as a paid holiday, which honored the legacy of Chavez, who fought for the rights of farmworkers. Since then, a day of commemoration for Chavez was established in other places, and in 2014, then-President Barack Obama proclaimed Chavez\u2019s birthday, March 31, as Cesar Chavez Day federally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chavez founded the union United Farm Workers (UFW) with labor leader Dolores Huerta in 1962, which led nationwide boycotts and pushed for pay raises for workers. Huerta was among the women in the New York Times<\/em> report who accused Chavez of abuse, stating that Chavez raped and impregnated her twice.<\/p>\n Following the story in The Times<\/em>, California lawmakers responded swiftly by renaming March 31 with a focus on farmworkers to commemorate the movement over a single person. Other states and cities are following suit.<\/p>\n Minnesota decided to rename the holiday Farmworkers Day. In Los Angeles, the day will be known as Farm Workers Day, styled with a space between farm<\/em> and workers<\/em>. To acknowledge the women and the alleged abuse they endured from Chavez, Tempe, Arizona<\/a>, temporarily renamed the day Women Farmworkers\u2019 Day and will decide on a permanent name at a later date.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n