(The Center Square) – Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said a small park in the city’s South Park neighborhood will no longer be called Cesar Chavez Park.
Wilson in a blog post Wednesday said that she was taking the action in response to sexual abuse allegations recently reported about the late farmworker advocate.
“Parks are community spaces, and everyone who visits should feel welcome there,” Wilson wrote. “When a name causes pain, we have a responsibility to act.”
A small sign saying Cesar Chavez Park has already been removed.
The action comes after allegations surfaced earlier this month in a New York Times report that Chavez sexually abused two women, now 66, as children, raped another woman, engaged in sexual harassment and fathered several children while married.
Chavez, who died in 1993, co-foundered the United Farm Workers. The union was particularly active in the 1960s and 1970s fighting through non-violent protests for the rights of farmworkers in California.
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson has announced that the state will not issue a proclamation honoring Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, and California is considering changing the name of the state holiday in Chavez’s honor to “Farmworkers Day.”
Wilson’s action comes at the urging of City Councilmember Alexis Rinck and King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda.
The small park sits on county land but is managed by the city.
“Renaming César Chávez Park is not simply about changing signage, it’s about redefining who we choose to honor in shared public spaces and how those choices reflect our values as we are forced to reexamine history,” said Rinck in a statement.”
The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department said community members are invited to submit new names for the park up until April 14. The email is BPRC@seattle.gov.
It has not been announced when the park will be renamed.
