ST. PAUL, Minn. — An effort to repeal Cesar Chavez Day in Minnesota and scrub the farm labor leader’s name from a major street and charter school in St. Paul is quickly gaining momentum, following revelations that Chavez groomed and sexually abused girls who worked as part of his movement.

Democratic state lawmakers said Monday, March 23, they would try to fast-track an effort to repeal Cesar Chavez Day ahead of its March 31 commemoration. Minnesota is one of several states recognizing the date, which is Chavez’s birthday, as Cesar Chavez Day.

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her said she is speaking with community members about removing the name of Cesar Chavez Street from a major thoroughfare on the city’s West Side.

And the co-founder of Academia Cesar Chavez in St. Paul said she has recommended the school board “take down the name immediately and change the school’s name.”

The broad push to disavow Chavez comes after a New York Times investigation published March 18 found extensive evidence that the civil rights leader sexually abused girls. The report has prompted the nation to reassess Chavez’s legacy in the Latino civil rights movement.

“We are here refusing to condone actions that exploit and harm others under the guise of justice,” said state Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega, a St. Paul Democrat who’s leading the push to repeal Cesar Chavez Day. “We demand accountability from abusers and support survivors of sexual abuse.”

Since the New York Times report published, several other states that celebrate Chavez’s birthday, including California, Washington, Arizona and Texas, have signaled they will not be promoting it and may also remove it from state law.

Gov. Tim Walz has issued proclamations to mark the day in past years. He said last week he will not do so this year, and he encouraged the Legislature to revisit the statute.

“This certainly clouds that legacy, and we should reassess it,” Walz said of the allegations.

Pérez-Vega said the measure repealing Cesar Chavez Day in Minnesota would not replace the name with something new. California lawmakers announced last week they intend to rename Cesar Chavez Day as “Farmworkers Day.”

“We need to repeal this action and reconvene,” Pérez-Vega said.

Minnesota House Democrats said they would seek a motion of urgency on Monday to pass the bill out of the chamber without it having to go through typical committee hearings. DFL Leader Zack Stephenson said the motion would require 90 yes votes in the House, which is evenly split between 67 Democrats and 67 Republicans.

Stephenson said the House DFL and GOP caucuses have mutual interest in the issue, and he expects “we will move this bill one way or another.”

“We are gonna try today to get it off the floor … in recognition of the fact that March 31 is right around the corner,” he said.

Ramona Arreguín de Rosales, co-founder of Academia Cesar Chavez, said it’s important for the state to find another way to recognize the accomplishments of the Latino community if it repeals Cesar Chavez Day. She said the allegations against Chavez have been “painful” for her personally.

“I met him when I was a college student. I learned from him about the plight of the farm workers. They were living in substandard living conditions and getting unfair wages,” de Rosales said.

She named her school after Chavez and helped name the street on St. Paul’s West Side. Now she’s pushing to rename them both and is supporting the bill to repeal Cesar Chavez Day.

“We have learned about the shocking allegations that Cesar has caused harm to young girls and women, and we must stand up and do the right thing in our community,” de Rosales said.

Mayor Her said the discussion of renaming Cesar Chavez Street in St. Paul is ongoing.

“This isn’t the city’s decision. This is our residents’ decision, and so we want to pull a larger stakeholder group together,” she said.

“What do we name it afterwards? It’s not just about removing that name now.”

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Brooks Johnson of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.

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