For 30 years, Latino farmworkers in Fresno, Calif., watched as other cities named streets in honor of Cesar Chavez. San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, swiftly paid tribute not long after his death in 1993. The state of California made Cesar Chavez Day a paid holiday in 2000.
Yet here, in the heart of the Central Valley — “America’s Food Basket” — Fresno long refused to designate a road to honor the leader revered by workers who toiled in nearby fields. The reasons were complicated, a mix of the community’s history and farmers’ resentment.
Finally, after decades of persuasion and with a new Latino majority on the Fresno City Council, city leaders voted in 2023 to establish Cesar Chavez Boulevard.
While it took Fresno three decades to name a street after Mr. Chavez, it took only one day to rescind it.
At a hastily convened meeting Thursday, the seven-member City Council voted unanimously to erase Mr. Chavez’s name after The New York Times published explosive sexual abuse accusations against him.
“This council and a lot of leaders in California and the nation are going to hopefully put on a master class in what accountability looks like,” Nelson Esparza, the council president, said.
The one-hour meeting at council chambers offered a profound look at the aftermath of a downfall. It was one of the nation’s first public bodies to remove Mr. Chavez’s name, and a preview of what will transpire in communities across the United States as the reckoning unfolds. They will have to work through personal connections and deep feelings — and they may reopen wounds.
Inside the Fresno council chambers, there was a mix of solemnity and anger. There was also relief from those who had long opposed the name change, though they said they took no joy from the reasons.
Before members of the public were allowed to comment, three City Council members hoisted the old, green street signs that had been in storage since the Chavez renaming and displayed the placards on the dais.
Kings Canyon Road. Ventura Avenue. California Avenue.
Older supporters of Mr. Chavez’s farmworker movement were devastated, especially those with living memories of the man. They had felt his impact in every bathroom or water break during sweltering summers in the field.
Three of them at the meeting spoke in distressed voices as they urged the council to take more time to contemplate their decision. They said they were as upset that the council was intent on giving the boulevard its previous names as they were with its not devising a new name to honor farmworkers.
Angel Noriega, 64, attended the meeting, but was too upset to speak. A former farmworker who had known Mr. Chavez personally, he was still incredulous about the allegations published this week. He was particularly insulted by the council members who placed the hulking old signs on the dais.
“If you don’t want Chavez’s name, then they can name it ‘Farmworker Movement’ or something else,” he said. “But they’re not saying that.”
Three years ago, Miguel Arias was the Fresno city councilman who led the charge to establish Cesar Chavez Boulevard. On Thursday, he was the same one who moved to remove Mr. Chavez’s name.
Mr. Arias said he was still grieving, too. He is a former farmworker, and said he felt like he was about to pass out when he heard that Dolores Huerta, who had co-founded the union, had said Mr. Chavez raped her.
He felt indignant on behalf of the victims, as well as a deep sense of loss, because Mr. Chavez could no longer be regarded as a hero.
“This is the death of a family member,” Mr. Arias said. “It’s that level of impact for us.”
Elsewhere in the city, there was even swifter action. Hours after The Times published its investigation, officials at California State University, Fresno, built a plywood box around its statue of Mr. Chavez.
Mr. Arias said he understood why some residents, especially those in the farmworker community, were upset that the City Council was acting so quickly, but considered it partly “a reflection that they’re still in the grieving phase.”
The council’s vote authorized the city to begin the renaming, which will include additional hearings and allow new name suggestions. It must also get approval from the mayor, Jerry Dyer, who has indicated he supported removing Mr. Chavez’s name.
Mr. Arias said that the most viable choice was to return to the old names. For a city facing budget cuts, it made fiscal sense, he said. The city kept most of the old signs, and the cost would be nominal, he said.
And he noted there would be residents who would fight to keep the original names, just as they had since the 1990s when activists first proposed naming the boulevard after Mr. Chavez.
The historically Black area of west Fresno had long wanted to preserve the name California Avenue. The road had come to define that community’s history. In downtown, the historically Armenian community and agricultural businesses preferred Ventura Avenue and Kings Canyon Road.
In past debates, some residents said they respected Cesar Chavez’s labor fight but felt that his name should instead grace a street in another Fresno neighborhood. On Thursday, neighborhood leaders at the meeting said they were glad to see their streets return to their original names, at least for now, though they had sympathy for those who felt betrayed.
“This has been about our desire to preserve the historical names of the streets in our community, the names that we grew up around,” said B.T. Lewis, the pastor of a Baptist Church in west Fresno. He added: “This is an opportunity to let those of you who are of our Latino community, in particular, know that we love you, we hold you in high regard and that this is an opportunity to support you during this very serious time in your community.”
Mr. Arias recalled the long journey to making Cesar Chavez Boulevard a reality. He and others endured intense backlash. The city was sued after the City Council approved the change in 2023, delaying installation of the new signs to 2024.
Still, he said, he had no hesitation this week after he saw the allegations.
“Sexual abuse is nonnegotiable,” he said.
Orlando Mayorquín is a Times reporter covering California. He is based in Los Angeles.
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