California lawmakers voted unanimously last week to rename the state holiday Cesar Chavez Day as "Farmworkers Day." The vote followed sexual abuse allegations against Chavez that emerged in March.

Civil rights leader Dolores Huerta publicly alleged that Chavez raped her decades ago. Two women who were daughters of farmworkers said they were molested by Chavez when they were underage in the 1970s. Huerta said she kept quiet about the sexual assault because she feared it would have hurt the farmworkers movement.

"As the daughter and granddaughter of farmworkers, this is deeply personal," said state senator Suzette Martinez Valladares. "The legacy of farmworkers belongs to families like mine across California - not to any one individual."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she was devastated by the allegations against Chavez and that her memory of him was painful.

Similar votes to rename sites commemorating Chavez are happening across the United States. Chavez's name appears on dozens of schools, streets and other public buildings nationwide. Statues of Chavez have begun to be removed and murals vandalized.

In the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, artist MisterAlek transformed a Chavez mural he painted in 2021 and replaced it with a painting of Dolores Huerta. Artist MisterAlek said he felt responsible for changing the mural because it was his creation.

Muralist JD "Zender" Estrada painted a mural depicting Chavez carrying four farmworkers in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1994 when the street was first named Cesar Chavez Avenue. Estrada said murals of Chavez should be renovated and updated rather than whitewashed. He said Chavez can remain on murals but should be less prominent if the community agrees. Estrada said murals could better reflect the role of farmworkers from the Philippines and other countries in the labour movement.

Chavez helped lead a major strike against Delano grape growers in the 1960s to gain better wages and conditions for workers. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton in 1994. President Barack Obama declared March 31 to be Cesar Chavez Day in 2014.