NYT and Dolores Huerta Bombshells About Cesar Chavez

 

Yeah, that picture ... not so much.

All right ... so ... we have an opportunity here, as liberals, to do things differently than MAGA, when it's one of our own, and take the high road.

Rather than trying to distract from it, spin it, cover it up, lie about it, make excuses for it, pretend and move on as if it didn't happen, or otherwise continue to enable and/or hide truth about power abuse and/or pedophiles in power, we need to do the right thing - acknowledge it, admit that the evidence is overwhelming and likely truth, and talk about it -  and more importantly, DO something about it!

For those who don't know, the NYT dropped a bombshell article after a year's long investigation and finding ample credible evidence that labor and civil rights icon, Cesar Chavez, investigating claims that he groomed and sexually assaulted young girls for years.

(Brava, NYT, for doing this investigation on one of our own, despite being a "liberal" news organization.)

In fact, this bombshell was followed shortly thereafter by cofounder and leader of the UFWA (United Farm Worker's Association), Dolores Huerta, who dropped a bombshell of her own just after the NYT exposed it.

She says he sexual assalted her, too, and fathered 2 of her children and abused her, as a young woman.

She says she stayed silent because she convinced herself the movement itself was bigger than herself and it was a small price to pay for the movement  - and because she was afraid of what would happen to her if she told - but it sickens her now that there were so many more.  (See below excerpt).

Now - if she is telling the truth - that she was forced/coerced rather than a consensual relationship - then we have a huge problem.

In fact, we have this problem regardless.

What are we going to do about power abuse in our society, Ladies and Gentleman?

It's actually worse than it was years ago instead of better!

Now - when I say this next part, understand that I'm not blaming any one religion or denomination - but Cesar Chavez combined civil rights with his Catholic beliefs - and unfortunately, as we all know, religion can become a manipulation and control weapon very easily.

Dolores Huerta's statement: 

“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. 

I have encouraged people to always use their voice. Following the New York Times’ multi-year investigation into sexual misconduct by Cesar Chavez, I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences. 

As a young mother in the 1960s, I experienced two separate sexual encounters with Cesar. The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to. The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped. 

I had experienced abuse and sexual violence before, and I convinced myself these were incidents that I had to endure alone and in secret. Both sexual encounters with Cesar led to pregnancies. I chose to keep my pregnancies secret and, after the children were born, I arranged for them to be raised by other families that could give them stable lives.  

Over the years, I have been fortunate to develop a deep relationship with these children, who are now close to my other children, their siblings. But even then, no one knew the full truth about how they were conceived until just a few weeks ago. 

I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn’t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way. I channeled everything I had into advocating on behalf of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserved equal rights.  

I have never identified myself as a victim, but I now understand that I am a survivor — of violence, of sexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control. 

I am telling my story because the New York Times has indicated that I was not the only one — there were others. Women are coming forward, sharing that they were sexually abused and assaulted by Cesar when they were girls and teenagers.  

The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me. My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years. There are no words strong enough to condemn those deplorable actions that he did. Cesar’s actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement. 

The farmworker movement has always been bigger and far more important than any one individual. Cesar’s actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people. We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever. 

I will continue my commitments to workers, as well as my commitment to women’s rights, to make sure we have a voice and that our communities are treated with dignity and given the equity that they have so long been denied. 

I have kept this secret long enough. My silence ends here.”

Now - you could look at this as hypocrisy. 

Because even Dolores Huerta - who encouraged people to use their voices, especially women - failed to do so until too late. 

Maybe -  but that's assuming not telling anyone was intentional cover up out of lack of integrity, rather than fear -  or as she said, convincing herself that her personal suffering was a small price to pay for the overall cause.

If she is telling the truth - that she was coerced/assaulted into this, rather consensual and making excuses - then hypocrisy should fall on the leader victimizing others -  not their victims. 

Or you could also look at it that even in marginalized groups who protest power abuse and exploitation publicly, are a different story   privately and/or enable it.

As an aside, I learned that lesson very quickly at 20 years old. My first long-term therapist was married to the head of the Democratic Party of Kentucky at that time.

(For the record, I'm still a Democrat because I believe in the overall platform, despite what "bad apples" do  - there are bad apples in every group.)

In fact, his last name shines very brightly on a building in downtown  Lexington as part of the law firm he helped build, with a branch in Louisville now, too. 

(And no, if you're trying to guess who it is, it's NOT Frost, Brown, and Todd, the best in the state - but this firm IS #2 in the state.)

One day, just before they divorced, she told me that she couldn't take one more minute of his racism. 

(Well, she failed to mention that he was also having a not-so-illicit affair, too, but yeah - both of those things are horrific.)

I said, "But he's a Democrat, he votes against racism."

She said "Ha! Oh, to be so young, idealistic, and naive. Yeah, but he'll do whatever it takes to get votes, stay in power and make money, just like Republicans. You've gotta learn  that what people say publicly isn't always who they are privately. He's as racist as they come privately. In fact, he's got narcissistic traits and I have borderline traits,'classic matchup, our marriage therapist diagnosed, a match made in hell"

Um ... yikes?

So John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe's infamously toxic relationship is running our state Democratic Party and my therapy?  😂

The inmates are running this asylum?

How is this much different than what I just left?

It took me a couple of more years to process that, though, just like it was taking me time to realize what I'd been told in my extremely dysfunctional family and believed for a very long was not based in reality, from either parent, despite what they looked like to others on the outside. In fact, I saw her for 5 years total.

As a quick aside, though she meant well, and she did care somewhat - she obviously also wasn't a very good therapist. 

Because with the realization that most of what I'd been told/believed for a long time from both parents, I felt damaged and not normal, I  was now lost as what normal was and didn't know how to recognize it. I was increasingly getting social anxiety with this realization, it's like the floor dropped out beneath me of what was actually normal.

So instead of doing therapy and helping me process or heal, she basically decided instead to just teach and train me on how to be "normal" from her perspective - turn me into a little her.  

This included not only how I spoke, what I spoke about, what to say, what not to say, the inflection you should use when saying it - but literally criticizing my artsy clothes, despite being in college and that is the time to get all the artsy stuff out before you have to go professional. 

She wore preppy Talbots preppy every day of her life, let's put it that way, and kept trying to get me to shop there instead.  😂

I remember one particular day, I wore an oversized double-breasted gray and white jacket with a black turtleneck and a black mini skirt with large muted gold amulet of a Caribbean sun, big gold hoop earrings, and leggings with laces trim at the ankles, all of which I'd bought from near-campus stores like Natasha's and Deja Vu/World's Apart. 

(Aside: Natasha's no longer exists - Natasha was the coolest lady, she was Russian Roma and she bought jewelry and clothes from all over the world with a little side Turkish coffee shop on the side. She opened a restaurant and bar downtown in 2007, but it didn't survive the recession. World's Apart is still here, but not right on campus - and it's now mainstream upscale, and no more "Deja Vu" vintage bargain basement!)

It was the early 90s, I was an artsy college student in social work, determined to change the world, what can I say?

Well, you would've thought I farted at a funeral - and I'm using that crass phrase because I know she'd be absolutely horrified by it, and that makes me laugh! 😂

But the stuff that came my way - particularly over the lace-ankled black leggings.  It wasn't inappropriate, I was fully covered head to toe, not even really sexy, just artsy.

She was scolding me about not looking professional, but at the same time, I could tell she actually kind of thought they were pretty, like she was conflicted, it was weird.

Then she told me that I needed to stop all the creative stuff in my life - singing, writing, acting, crafts - because that was my problem preventing me from being "normal" - it was making me increasingly emotional.

Yeah, I'm sure that's it -  rather than surviving multiple childhood traumas and being gaslighted about it, just now realizing the full extent of it and that actually, neither parent could be trusted?

Nor could it possibly have a component of a genetic predisposition to anxiety and depression by adolescence/young adulthood, but not receiving actual medical treatment for it?? 

No siree! She has a master's degree and credential letters behind her name and her husband was the head of the Democratic Party of Kentucky, I'm just a nobody, just now starting college for Social Work, who am I to argue?

Yeah, well, I should have. 

Also, the day she didn't show up for our last appointment due to emergency and her secretary - normally very stoic and professional - told me I'd been coming there long enough, she didn't mind telling me he'd had an affair.

Her secretary also added this me: 

"You see, Honey? Nobody's perfect, nobody's normal. In fact, most people are way worse, they're just better at hiding it.  It's okay to be creative, despite what she tells you or who she's trying to train you to be." 

"And I'm gonna say something I should've said to you a long time ago and I'm saying it because I've been wanting to say it for a long time and now's the perfect time ..." 

"Don't automatically assume that people with big important jobs and reputations, lots of money, or credentials behind their name are smarter, saner, or any more normal than you -  they're just better at hiding it." 

 

"I type your session notes, I type everybody's session notes - and let me say this - you're not as messed up as you think you are or have been led to believe. There's WAY worse from people you'd never suspect."  

"And there is nothing wrong with being creative, embrace it. Do it while you're young, when you can. There's being practical and then there's quashing who really you are to please others -  find that balance to do both, make a living but also create. 

"I think your social anxiety is getting worse because she's trying to train you to be someone you're not, it doesn't feel authentic, it's manufactured. This isn't Southern Belle charm school, it's supposed to be therapy!" 

"Just be yourself. Sometimes you'll say something wrong or dumb, oh well, we all do, but as long as you don't mean any harm, it's okay. You'll learn."

 

"She knows that too and should tell you that, but she can't, because she was once an artist, did you know that? All those unsigned watercolors in the hallway? They're hers from years ago."

"She's from a wealthy family who wanted her to be practical and marry well and make THEM look good - so she quashed it all to marry a famous lawyer and politician and she's trying to train you like she did herself, even though she resents it like hell." 

"And she just became a social worker about a year before you started seeing her for something to do out of boredom." 

"That's also why her son ran off to Arizona and why they're estranged, he's an artsy type, too, but I suspect he'll be forced to go into law like his dad (which he eventually did - he's runs the famous firm after his dead's death.)

"So when she's hard on you, just realize it's not really about you, it's about herself."

"Shh, don't tell her I said that and I only said that because of this situation, but I've been waiting to say it for a long time because I think that's what you really need to hear. Do you need to sort out stuff more? Sure - but we all do." 

"She won't fire me anyway, I've been with her too long. I was was with her before she finished school, during Comp Care when you started seeing her, and now in private practice - , and I know where all the bodies are buried on both of them lol, but I don't want to incur their wrath for exposing truth, either. They are both powerful people in this town, in fact, this state. I'll never mention this again, but remember it, okay? You're gonna be okay."

I never did tell my therapist or anyone what she said, in fact, until now.  But I wish I'd listened to her that day, instead of taking me years to figure that out.

Because that was, quite possibly, the best therapy I'd ever received, to that point - from my therapist's secretary! 😂

That took years to process though - to not automatically assume all educated therapists are good ones, especially in the South due to ingrained culture -  and you should shop around, not just take what's available.

Not drop them because they confront you, no -  that's an important part of therapy - but because it's not a good fit or they're even more bat-shit crazy than you ever thought of being! 😂

I think it took me awhile because I was still hashing out the truth and reality of my own dysfunctional family and its enablers/deniers.

And I did see that therapist once more a year later, after the birth of my daughter, and that gap in between made me realize the truth in her secretary's words - and that I'd grown past her -  and that she may have harmed more than she helped. 

She held my baby daughter, my daughter smiled immediately at her (as she did with everybody), and the Ice Queen melted, actually teared up - we both did. She said felt she felt like a grandma.

But it was also that day, when she said that, that I realized - I didn't feel that way about her. 

I was fond of her, sure - and though I did learn a few things, I didn't feel like she was my surrogate mom or family, as she apparently felt about me (but never showed until that day) - I felt she was like my family doctor?

And I realized she wasn't actually teaching or helping me heal or process anything at all, and despite her intent, she may have actually harmed me more than helped me.

I never told her this, I just stopped going.

But in fact, I still haven't gotten the creative writing back as I once did, I buried it so deep, thinking that was my problem - but that's part of what this blog is about, continuing to find that buried part of me 🙂

All of this to say - I did eventually process all of that and learned that lesson after that experience, that you can't and shouldn't automatically give your blind faith to anyone and don't assume everyone else is smarter, saner, healthier, or more "normal" than you.

And after therapy elsewhere since, I have learned to embrace my weirdness - my creativity, my quirks and all - or at least I'm learning to again. 😊

But I digress - back to my actual point, public versus private attitudes - in fact, this is what happened in Communism in practice versus theory, isn't it?

It was supposed to be that no one owned more than anyone else, the people themselves owned everything, humans stayed connected to  and were valued for what they created rather than another cog in the industrial wheel, and their leaders distributed the wealth equally - no classes, no racial or religious favoritism - but that's not what happened in practice.

Instead, a little oligarchy of power-hungry, greedy people played dirty and took over, controlled everything everybody did, including personal freedoms, there were still preferred classes, religions, and races/heritage, and the oligarchy took more for themselves than they gave to the people, and then killed anyone who spoke up about it.

Why?

Because even though communism may sound great in theory, it can never happen in practice because we can never underestimate the power of of human greed/lust for power/need to control by at least one person in charge, if not more. 

And even if they don't start out that way, they will be tempted to become that way - absolute power corrupts absolutely, after all. (Not everyone, but more often than not.)

But back to Dolores Huerta, we can never underestimate the power of personal history despite their intention -  leftover messages from prior personal trauma speaking louder in her head than her own emerging voice.  

Throw in misinterpreted/twisted/perverted scriptures for selfish gain including attitudes about the role of women as a guilt trip, and boom, there you go.

So I ask us again, what are we going to do about this?

We can neither automatically dismiss or believe people making claims, that's true - some people do claim things to extort those in power.

However, that's not the majority - and it also shouldn't take several people coming forward to  have accusations like this finally be taken seriously, either.

If someone speaks up at all, then it should be investigated correctly the first time, and it wouldn't happen again! 

(Although granted, there isn't always proof of a sexual encounter, especially if there's shame and fear of speaking up for a while first.)

Also, once again - just because it didn't happen to you personally or it wasn't your experience with a person doesn't mean it didn't happen or they're not capable.

Power abusers and predators are very selective - they quickly assess the socioeconomic status, power, wealth, and most importantly, the amount of social support of their victims first.  

Thus, they already know very well who will be believed between the 2 of them before they strike.

Regardless, I am so sorry to and for those girls and for Dolores Huerta.

And, I might add, what Chavez did to her should not tarnish her legacy by default - if she's telling the truth that she was coerced/assault, too - then if anything, it proves she was the true leader of the UFW, willing to suffer and make personal sacrifices for the good of the cause - I'm just sorry she had to 🥲