KC neighborhood will 'prioritize the truth' after César Chávez investigation

Joseph Hernandez, The Kansas City Star on Mar 20, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Kansas City neighborhood association with a road named after César E. Chávez running through it weighed in Friday on the revelations surrounding the civil rights leader.

A New York Times investigation reported that César E. Chávez, the late United Farm Workers union leader who became a national icon for workers and civil rights, allegedly engaged in decades-long acts of child sexual abuse and adult rape.

Discussions of changing the street name of Avenida Cesar E. Chavez in the West Side neighborhood were off the table at the Westside Neighborhood Association meeting Thursday, March 19.

Then, the association released a statement of solidarity with Dolores Huerta and all survivors.

The statement was made in conjunction with Guadalupe Centers, Mattie Rhodes Center, the office of 4th District-at-Large Councilman Crispin Rea, Kansas City Cesar E. Chavez Scholarship Committee and mural artist Juan Moya, who created the artwork featuring Chávez that is seen on the steps leading to Gage Park located directly north across the street from Guadalupe Centers.

The statement says that “abuse, assault, and the culture of forced silence will not be tolerated, and that they must prioritize the truth and the safety of women and children over the preservation of any single legacy.”

The statement pledges the following:

—Community first: No final decisions regarding the street name or the mural will be made in isolation.

—Open dialogue: They will facilitate a process to gather direct input from the community before any permanent changes are enacted.

—Honoring truth and history: Their goal is to ensure public spaces, like street names, reflect their values of culture, justice and history.

They also shared resources for survivors of abuse and assault through Guadalupe Centers Family Services, Mattie Rhodes Center and Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault.

“We cannot change the past, but we have the power to build a future rooted in accountability and community,” the neighborhood association said.

In its investigation, The New York Times reveals accusations against Chávez by several women, two of whom claim to have been sexually abused for years by Chávez at a time when they were teens as young as 13 and when Chávez was in his 40s. Chávez died at age 66 in 1993. The two women are now both 66 years old.

The newspaper also includes a claim of rape by Huerta, who is soon to turn 96 and was known to be Chávez’s closest female ally in his workers’ rights movement. Huerta, who had never publicly revealed the sexual assault, said she was 36 at the time.

There is a four-step process to change the street name, and it could take weeks before the signs come down.

(The Star’s Eric Adler, Eleanor Nash and Ben Wheeler contributed to this report.)