Two weeks ago, a New York Times investigation found that César Chávez — the co-founder of United Farm Workers and a key figure the Mexican American community memorialized for securing union rights and higher wages — had sexually abused girls who were part of the farmworkers movement from around 1972 to 1977. In the days that followed, cities and universities in my home state of California quickly started taking down statues and erasing symbols of Chávez. These moves come as President Donald Trump is working to bring the statue of a slave owner and Declaration of Independence signer, Caesar Rodney, to D.C. for America’s 250th birthday after officials in Wilmington, Delaware, took it down during protests in 2020. Trump then installed a statue of the controversial historical figure Christopher Columbus on the White House grounds over a week ago. There is something incredibly ironic about California cities and universities swiftly taking action to ensure they are not celebrating a figure who abused many women while the Trump administration works to elevate and uplift historical figures who have caused pain and suffering to others through slavery. 

These installations are part of a series that the Trump administration has taken to oppose “woke” takes on history across the city. Over the last year, the Black Lives Matter Plaza — letters that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had installed after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 — were painted over at Trump’s directive. Last year, the Trump administration reinstated the statues of the Confederacy in the Arlington National Cemetery and in D.C. — the “Reconciliation Monument” and a statue of Confederate General Albert Pike. According to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, these reinstallations were done so they wouldn’t be “erasing“ history — a common argument that many people use when arguing for the preservation of these statues. The portrait that Trump is painting of the country by idolizing these figures specifically for America’s 250th anniversary is one that comes across as prideful of figures who have oppressed different communities across history. 

In California, the top agricultural state in the country, we are seeing that despite the advocacy work that Chávez did for farmworkers, cities and universities did not hesitate to take down statues or other symbols of him around the state when the investigation’s findings broke. This is exactly the way we should be approaching other controversial figures in history: swiftly dismantling symbols that glorify them. 

I grew up in Calexico, California, just half an hour away from where Chávez lived for a few years in Brawley, California, and an hour away from where he was born in Yuma, Arizona. My county — Imperial County — is also an agricultural county, where one in six jobs is in agriculture. Its industrial farming is one of the main drivers of the local economy, producing crops like carrots and alfalfa. So naturally, I had learned a lot about Chávez growing up. From a young age, our teachers would give us history lessons about him and his impact, and come March, we would have school off on the final Monday of the month in commemoration of César Chávez Day — which state lawmakers are now renaming in some states. In fact, the elementary school that I attended is named after him, and there are several more elementary and middle schools named after him in the state. 

My grandparents were farmworkers in California during the 1960s and 1980s, and they more than likely benefited from the work of Chávez and Huerta. I know some of my classmates had grandparents who were part of the United Farm Workers and had even met Chávez. And I remember being 10 years old, so excited to learn about his work in the civil rights movement while wearing a shirt that said “César Chávez Elementary School.” But after the news broke out, it was a no-brainer, so very simple — we couldn’t idolize Chávez anymore. Yes, he had made strides for migrant workers. But he also committed unspeakable acts. There’s no reason to continue to uplift figures who do horrible deeds. At a time when the federal government is blatantly putting up these figures, California has illustrated the power that state governments have. It is easy to accept the actions of the federal government at face value, but resistance is easier than it seems when people stick to their values and rally together. 

Chávez was often taught in our school curriculum as someone to look up to as a leading Mexican American activist. I remember being told “if he can do change for the Latino community, so can you” — especially powerful for the Mexican American community, who often appear less in history books or are rarely the focus throughout history. He is everywhere around the state of California — in both Brawley and Calexico, there are even streets named after him. 

Chávez is so embedded in the country’s history and in California as a whole. Still, the quick actions that many across the state are taking illustrate how simple it is not to put someone on a pedestal, even if they were part of the key history of a state or a group of people. It is jarring to see California get to work immediately on taking public references of him down while here in D.C., Trump has decided to decorate the nation’s capital by reinstalling statues of people who have been slaveowners, fought to keep slavery and have done irreparable damage to Native American communities. 

Trump’s actions aren’t as simple as depicting a more conservative view on history, but one that fully disregards historical figures and their abuse and oppression of others. Trump’s efforts are excusing — even venerating — all the actions of these historical figures, undoing much of the progress the country had taken in the past few years. I understand that this is, unfortunately, the story of much of America — many of our founding fathers, with many owning slaves, including the namesake of the University, all share a controversial past. But if many statues were already removed during the height of the 2020 protests because of the heinous actions of those individuals, then there is no cause for the Trump administration to backslide and erase progress that has already been made. 

The way Chávez’s history is being addressed in California shows that just because one chooses not to honor an individual, that doesn’t erase their impact. It looks like there will no longer be César Chávez Day — now it’s Farmworkers Day on March 31. The festival that happens in my county is no longer the César Chávez Celebration, it’s El Movimiento Celebración, or The Movement Celebration. The history is not being erased — it’s just that the individuals aren’t being revered anymore. This is the kind of attitude that we should be taking when we see Trump putting up these statues again — there is truly no excuse when there is an existing model in the case of Chávez, where California is able to stop idolizing a man who was once one of their greatest heroes.