As a child growing up in East Chicago, Jesse Gomez had a lot of faith in César Chavez.
This week, his feelings toward the former Latino labor leader have changed.
“You know that saying, ‘You got the wind sucked out of you?’” said Gomez, former East Chicago Common Council member and current school board trustee. “That’s how I felt. … It’s really hard for my mind to grasp.”
Gomez has been shocked by recent allegations in a New York Times investigation that revealed Chavez allegedly groomed and sexually assaulted girls and women in the United Farm Workers movement. Dolores Huerta, a UFW co-founder with Chavez, was included, according to the New York Times.
“When I heard (Huerta’s) comments, it was really kind of the proverbial straw,” Gomez said. “I had put a lot of faith in both of them, and to know what happened to her, it broke my spirit.”
As a member of the East Chicago Common Council, Gomez introduced a resolution to rename the Columbus Drive bridge after Chavez. Now, he “100%” believes East Chicago officials should rename the bridge and the stretch of Columbus Drive known as Cesar Chavez Memorial Drive.
East Chicago officials — including city council members and Mayor Anthony Copeland — were unable to immediately comment on whether they’ve considered the renaming of the bridge or road, or if the city will cancel the “César Chavez Day” celebrations on March 31.
Other communities across the country are making the same considerations, as are the Chicago schools and parks.
“With the number of people who have come out, … I just think that these women are to be believed,” Gomez said. “It would be in our best interest as a majority Latino community to rename that bridge and any other things that are associated with him.”
According to previous U.S. census data, 56.5% of East Chicago’s population is Hispanic or Latino.
Emiliano Aguilar, an East Chicago native and assistant professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, said Chavez first visited East Chicago and Northwest Indiana in 1966. Although area unions were primarily for steelworkers, Aguilar said Chavez was a symbol for the Latino community in East Chicago.
Before recent allegations, it was easy for East Chicago leadership to celebrate Chavez’s legacy, Aguilar said.
“Chavez has become synonymous with this movement that is in fact larger than him,” he said. “I hope this is going to be shocking for people, but I think it’s a really good opportunity for some change.”
Aguilar would like people to still celebrate the United Farm Workers movement and see that it was larger than Chavez, he said, and the movement was made possible by thousands of other people, including Huerta.
“This work is not made possible without all these people throughout the country on the ground acting both in solidarity and organizing, protesting and picketing themselves, too,” Aguilar said.
Communities have a habit of dedicating things to people who are not from their community, Aguilar said, and he hopes allegations against Chavez offer East Chicago leadership an opportunity to look inward at its own history and leaders. The Calumet region has its own rich civil rights history, he said.
One local leader that Aguilar thinks could be recognized is Irene Gonzalez, who helped pioneer bilingual education programs in East Chicago and helped push for affirmative action. Other United Farm Workers movement leaders like Huerta or Eliseo Medina are also possible options if the city looks to rename the bridge or stretch of Columbus Drive.
“My pitch is for Irene,” Aguilar said. “I think it should be a Latina, and I think there’s no better one regionally than an unsung civil rights hero in our community.”
Gomez isn’t sure what the bridge should be renamed to, but he brought up the idea of dedicating it to the United Farm Workers movement as a whole or for some of the female leaders. As for “César Chavez Day,” Gomez believes East Chicago should still celebrate the day, but without Chavez’s name.
“There was some good with the farm workers movement and the union,” Gomez said. “I want to acknowledge that but not with his name.”
Aguilar also believes that “César Chavez Day” celebrations should shift to celebrate the farm workers movement and Latino community, he said, adding that he believes those workers are invisible and still deserve recognition.
“I think this is an opportunity to move away from the glorification of ‘one great man’ because history should never be done that way,” Aguilar said. “We should recognize the struggle that’s always been there because it’s more illustrative of a larger cause and a larger community.”
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
