Readers suggest others to honor in place of Cesar Chavez and also defend his movement.
Workers cover a mural by Emigdio Vasquez featuring Cesar Chavez and other figures at Santa Ana College in Santa Ana, Calif. Re: “Readers suggest who should replace Chavez — ‘The News’ receives 39 names, including Trump," Tuesday Metro & Business story.
I suggest Adelfa Botello Callejo as an excellent replacement for Cesar Chavez Boulevard. She was the first Hispanic woman to graduate from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law.She co-founded the Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas and served as regional president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. For over 50 years, Callejo fought for educational equality, voting rights and housing for underprivileged individuals.I enjoyed your poll on renaming options should Cesar Chavez Boulevard indeed be changed. My vote goes to Stevie Ray Vaughn, a musical icon whose work reflects on the city itself.I had to laugh, though, at the suggestion of Donald Trump. In this hypothetical scenario, we would replace the name of one man accused of sexual misconduct with the name of another who has been accused by more than a dozen women, one of whom won a civil court case against him in front of 12 jurors and another who was an Epstein victim. Yeah, let’s go with Stevie Ray.Why not just use the old number system for the name of the street change? Why do we think all our streets have to carry the name of someone whose background we do not really know? Doing so just means that in a few years we are back in the same situation.That is true of at least one of the names that has been put forth as a replacement. Someone not just accused of horrible wrongs, but convicted of them. If that name becomes the forerunner, just leave the name as it is. The background is the same.My suggestion is Doak Walker, the most famous and decorated football player in Southern Methodist University’s history and a native Dallasite. He graduated from Highland Park High School in 1944 and later enrolled in SMU. He was a three-time All American, the Maxwell Award winner in 1947 and the 1948 Heisman Trophy winner. Interest in SMU football grew so much while he played that the Cotton Bowl’s seating capacity was increased from around 46,000 to around 75,000 and became known as “the house that Doak built.” He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1950 and was All-Pro five times, helping Detroit win NFL championships in 1952 and 1953. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1986.Currently, the Doak Walker Award is given each year to the top college running back in the country.Since Greg Abbott reacted so quickly to allegations of sexual misconduct against Cesar Chavez, he should preemptively declare that Texas will never declare a holiday, build a statue or name a single street, highway or airport in honor of President Donald Trump. Let us commend Abbott for believing Dolores Huerta and other women who came forward even though, unlike Trump, Chavez was never brought to trial for sexual abuse.Trump has not only been accused of rape, kissing and groping without consent and walking in on naked pageant contestants, he has publicly admitted to some of this behavior. In a 2005 interview, Trump told Howard Stern’s radio show that he “got away with going backstage when the contestants were naked” at beauty pageants. “There’s no reason to have a day honoring him, to have streets or whatever honoring him, because of his past conduct,” Abbott said of Chavez. He could say the same of Trump. May Abbott have the civility, the leadership and the guts to do so.While the allegations regarding the late Cesar Chavez are disappointing, they are not surprising as our history of American icons, from politicians, athletes, founding fathers and others is replete with the usual human failings. Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson all had their imperfections ranging from infidelity to being slave owners with behavior that has tainted their place in history. The question now facing the American public is the degree of imperfection we are willing to accept or reject. If we expect perfection, there are thousands of American history paintings, statues and memorials that will have to be removed and banished. We also have hundreds of streets and schools that will have to be renamed.There have been several articles recently concerning reports that Cesar Chavez was guilty of sexually abusing minors and women. That is certainly a huge disappointment to read, but it is about him, not the United Farm Workers union that he worked to create. That organization has done much good for farm laborers and continues to do so. I totally agree that his memory should not be honored by his name being on streets, statues, schools or buildings of any kind. I hope our Congress in Washington takes the same stance when it comes to putting our president’s name on anything. He has been found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payouts to an adult-film actress and also found liable for the sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll.Congress should follow Texas’ example and immediately remove Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center and tell Trump they will not make his birthday a national holiday as he is requesting.Dallas removed the statue of Cesar Chavez at the Farmers Market within hours of accusations that he sexually abused girls. The Dallas City Council is considering renaming Cesar Chavez Boulevard and dropping recognition of Cesar Chavez Day.The statue and the recognition should not go to the man; they should go to the movement that he created. The United Farm Workers movement was a momentous accomplishment that deserves historical recognition. Recognize his accomplishments, not his failures.Dallas Morning News editorials are written by the paper's Editorial Board and serve as the voice and view of the paper. The board considers a broad range of topics and is overseen by the Editorial Page Editor.
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