Skip to main content

Support WBUR

What allegations against Cesar Chavez mean for farm worker movement, legacy

06:31
American union leader Cesar Chavez (1927 - 1993) attends a Labour Party press conference in the UK, 17th September 1974.  (Les Lee/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
American union leader Cesar Chavez (1927 - 1993) attends a Labour Party press conference in the UK, 17th September 1974. (Les Lee/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Cesar Chavez, the labor organizer and champion of farmworker rights, has been accused of sexually abusing two girls in the 1970s, and Dolores Huerta, his co-founder of the United Farm Workers, according to an investigation by The New York Times.

Cynthia Orozco, professor emeritus at Eastern New Mexico University and historian of Chicano studies, joins us to discuss what this means for the farm worker movement and Chavez's legacy.

This segment aired on March 20, 2026.

Support WBUR

Support WBUR

Listen Live