Seattle, King County removing César Chávez’s name from park after abuse allegations

The City of Seattle, in conjunction with King County officials, has agreed to remove César Chávez’s name from a park located in the South Park neighborhood.

An investigation published by The New York Times last week revealed extensive evidence that the United Farm Workers co-founder groomed and sexually abused girls who worked within the movement for years.

“Parks are community spaces, and everyone who visits should feel welcome there,” Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said. “When a name causes pain, we have a responsibility to act. I’m grateful to Councilmembers Rinck and Mosqueda for their leadership, and I look forward to working with the South Park community to choose a new name that reflects our values.”

Wilson announced that the decision will be effective immediately. Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda were the first to push for this change.

“Renaming César Chávez Park is not simply about changing signage, it’s about redefining who we choose to honor in shared public spaces and how those choices reflect our values as we are forced to reexamine history,” Rinck said. “Those values must include standing up for survivors of sexual violence. Believing survivors, protecting them, and holding abusers accountable is not separate from the movement. It is the movement. We cannot claim to fight for working people while abandoning and silencing the women who made that fight possible. Thank you to King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda and Seattle Parks for your partnership on this renaming process.”

Public honorings of César Chávez being removed nationwide

Chávez’s name is being actively scrubbed from nearly all public spaces. California lawmakers passed a bill to rename Caesar Chavez Day, which occurs on March 31, to “Farmworkers Day.” Multiple Los Angeles schools named after César Chávez are expected to be renamed, and his image is being removed from campus murals. Los Angeles also has a street named after him, which is expected to be renamed. Phoenix is working to rename a library named after him.

Statues dedicated to the activist in San Fernando and San Jose are also being considered for removal or alteration.

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