Editing Cesar Chavez (section)

==Reception and legacy==
[[File:Portrait of Cesar Chavez by Manuel Gregorio Acosta, 1969.jpg|thumb|left|An illustration of labor leader [[César Chávez]], by [[Manuel Gregorio Acosta]], was on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', published July 4, 1969.|alt=Illustration of labor leader César Chávez by Acosta, was on the cover of ''Time', published July 4, 1969.]]

{{Quote box
| quote = [Chavez's] dream was to found a labor union of farmworkers. He had no money, no political connections, and no experience. He was not a particularly dynamic personality and had no special talent as a public speaker. The dream, he knew, was almost fanciful. Nevertheless, through determination, grit, and a dogged will to win, he forged a movement that successfully challenged powerful entrenched economic and political interests and helped thousands of Mexican Americans to new cultural self-awareness.
| source=— Roger Bruns, 2005{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=x}}
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In the popular imagination, Chavez and the movement he led became largely synonymous,{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=296}} although throughout his career, Chavez prompted strong reactions from others.{{sfn|Street|1996|p=363}} Since his death, there has been a struggle to define his legacy.{{sfn|Wells|2009|p=5}}

During his lifetime, many of Chavez's supporters idolized him, engaging in a form of [[Cult of personality|hero worship]].{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=180}}  Bruns noted that many of his supporters "nearly worshipped him as a folk hero".{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=100}} In 1982, the American country music singer [[Kris Kristofferson]] called Chavez "the only true hero we have walking on this Earth today."{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=436}} These supporters were known as "Chavistas";{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=177}} many of them, especially those living at the La Paz commune, emulated his vegetarian diet.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=296}} By the 1970s, he was increasingly referred to as a "saint" among those who supported him.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=298}} In response to these claims, Chavez insisted that "There is a big difference between being a saint and being an angel[...] Saints are known for being tough and stubborn."{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=298}} In 1972, John Zerzan described Chavez as presenting himself as "a Christ-figure sacrificing all for his flock" through his fasts,{{sfn|Zerzan|1972|p=126}} adding that Chavez took the form of a "messianic leader".{{sfn|Zerzan|1972|p=128}} The scholar of [[Latino studies]] Lilia Soto called him and Huerta "freedom fighters".{{sfn|Soto|2017|p=67}} He received a range of awards and accolades, which he claimed to hate.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=298}} For these supporters, his visions for the future were regarded as inspirational.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=298}} Bruns noted that he had "a mesmerizing effect on the lives of thousands. They saw in him nobility, sacrifice, and the grit of the underdog who refuses to give up."{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=122}} Throughout his career as an activist, he received strong ecumenical support.{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=36}} The UFW gained the support of mainline Protestant groups in a way that previous farmworker movements never had.{{sfn|Wells|2009|p=14}}

Chavez was despised by many growers.{{sfn|Street|1996|p=372}} John Giumarra Jr, of the Giumarra company, called Chavez a "New Left guerrilla", someone who wanted to topple "the established structure of American democracy".{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=189}} The FBI monitored him and many other senior figures in his movement, concerned that they were subversive.{{sfn|Street|1996|p=347}} Having monitored him for over a decade, the FBI's dossier on Chavez grew to over 1,500 pages in length.{{sfn|Street|1996|p=348}} They ultimately found no evidence suggesting he had communist leanings.{{sfn|Street|1996|pp=348–349}} During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he received a series of death threats,{{sfnm|1a1=Street|1y=1996|1pp=367–369|2a1=Bruns|2y=2005|2p=79}} and—according to Bruns—he often faced "spiteful mobs and scurrilous race-baiting".{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=79}}

Within Chavez's movement itself, there was concern and criticism of his methods. It the early 1970s, for instance, Chavez-supporter George Higgins wrote a private memo arguing that Chavez "appealed very crassly" to feelings of guilt among many "Protestant social actionists" and threatened them "with the enmity of the poor" if they failed to meet with Chavez's demands.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=243}} Many ex-members of the UFW took the view that Chavez had been a poor administrator.{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=107}} Other labor unions had long been wary of Chavez's movement, with the UFW gaining a reputation for always wanting money but doing little to assist others.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=4511}} In the U.S. union movement, many skeptics believed that Chavez's idealism detracted from his effectiveness as a union leader.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=298}} [[Paul Hall (labor leader)|Paul Hall]] of the [[Seafarers International Union of North America]] met him in Washington, D.C., during the 1970s, at which he criticized Chavez for acting like a saint rather than a union leader, stating that he had become "a fad – the poor man others can support to expiate their sins."{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=296}} Some Mexican-Americans were critical of Chavez, believing him an agitator and trouble-maker who was insufficiently patriotic in his views of the United States.{{sfn|Street|1996|p=363}} Some critics believed that Chavez's activism was mobilized largely by the desire for personal gain and ambition.{{sfnm|1a1=Street|1y=1996|1p=363|2a1=Wells|2y=2009|2p=13}}

[[File:Rally (2239808432).jpg|thumb|left|A campaigner for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign holding up a "Sí se puede" plaque. The slogan was first developed by Chavez's UFW in the early 1970s.]]

Bruns noted that Chavez's movement was "part of the fervor of change [in the United States] of the late 1960s", alongside the civil rights movement and the campaign against the Vietnam War.{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=84}} The historian Ronald A. Wells described Chavez as "one of the most important Christian activists in our time,"{{sfn|Wells|2009|p=5}} while the theologian Hosffman Ospino called him "one of the most influential social leaders in the history of the United States".{{sfn|Ospino|2013|p=404}} Pawel referred to Chavez as "an improbable idol in an era of telegenic leaders and charismatic speakers".{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=2}} The historian [[Nelson Lichtenstein]] commented that Chavez's UFW oversaw "the largest and most effective boycott [in the United States] since the colonists threw tea into Boston Harbor".{{sfn|Lichtenstein|2013|p=144}} Lichtenstein also stated that Chavez had become "an iconic, foundational figure in the political, cultural, and moral history" of the Latino American community.{{sfn|Lichtenstein|2013|p=143}} Many Latinos drew inspiration from his movement,{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=438}} including student activists – for instance, [[University of California, Santa Cruz|UCSC]]'s [[Cesar Chavez Convocation]]. He has been described as a "folk saint" of the Mexican-American community.<ref>{{cite book|author=Elizabeth Jacobs|title=Mexican American Literature: The Politics of Identity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nLwAihlibcC&pg=PA13|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|page=13|isbn=978-1134218233}}</ref> A poll conducted by the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' in 1983 found that Chavez was the Latino whom the Latinos of California most admired.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=438}}

The scholar Steven Lloyd-Moffett argued that after Chavez's death, the "liberal intelligentsia and Chicano activists" came to dominate attempts to define his legacy and that they downplayed his firm commitment to Christianity so as to portray him as being motivated by "a secular ideology of justice and non-violence".{{sfn|Wells|2009|p=6}} When the Democratic Party candidate [[Barack Obama]] was campaigning for the presidency in 2008, he used ''Sí se puede''—translated into English as "Yes we can"—as one of his main campaign slogans.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=3}} When Obama was seeking re-election in 2012, he visited Chavez's grave and placed a rose upon it, also declaring his Union Headquarters to be a national monument.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=3}} Chavez's work has continued to exert influence on later activists. For instance, in his 2012 article in the ''[[Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics]]'', Kevin J. O'Brien argued that Chavez could be "a vital resource for contemporary Christian ecological ethics".{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=151}} O'Brien argued that it was both Chavez's focus on "the moral centrality of human dignity" as well as his emphasis on sacrifice that could be of use by Christians wanting to engage in environmentalist activism.{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=152}} The theologian Carlos R. Piar similarly stated that Hispanic people should look to Chavez as an exemplar for "a way of being Christian in the United States."{{sfn|Piar|1996|p=103}}

===Orders, decorations, monuments, and honors===
{{main|List of places named after Cesar Chavez}}
[[File:Arch_(50017847777)_(cropped).jpg|thumb|left|250px|The ''[[Arch of Dignity, Equality, and Justice]]'' by [[Judy Baca]], is dedicated to Chavez, and is on the [[Plaza de César Chávez]] at [[San José State University]].]]
Chavez received a range of awards, both during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1973, he received the [[Jefferson Awards for Public Service|Jefferson Award]] for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national|title=National Winners|publisher=Jefferson Awards|access-date=June 18, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124043935/http://jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national|archive-date=November 24, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> and in 1992 the [[Pacem in Terris Award|''Pacem in Terris'' Award]], a Catholic award meant to honor "achievements in peace and justice".<ref>{{cite web |title=Pacem In Terris (Peace On Earth) Award Recipients |url=http://www.davenportdiocese.org/socialaction/sapitrecipients.htm |publisher=Diocese of Davenport |access-date=June 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725222132/http://www.davenportdiocese.org/socialaction/sapitrecipients.htm |archive-date=July 25, 2011 }}</ref> In August 1994, Chavez was posthumously awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the country's highest honor for non-military personnel, by Democratic President [[Bill Clinton]]. Chavez's widow collected it from the [[White House]].{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=128}} Clinton stated that Chavez had been a "remarkable man" and that "he was for his own people a Moses figure."{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=128}} In 2006, California Governor [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] inducted Chavez into the [[California Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.californiamuseum.org/exhibits/halloffame/inductee/cesar-chavez |title=César Chávez Inductee Page |work=[[California Hall of Fame]] List of 2006 Inductees |publisher=[[The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts]] |access-date=September 8, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091205180847/http://www.californiamuseum.org/exhibits/halloffame/inductee/cesar-chavez |archive-date=December 5, 2009 }}</ref> Asteroid [[6982 Cesarchavez]], discovered by [[Eleanor Helin]] at [[Palomar Observatory]] in 1993, was named in his memory;<ref name="jpldata" /> the official {{MoMP|6982|naming citation}} was published by the [[Minor Planet Center]] on August 27, 2019 ({{small|[[Minor Planet Circulars|M.P.C.]] 115893}}).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" /> In March 2013, [[Google]] celebrated his 86th birthday with a [[Google Doodle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/cesar-chavezs-86th-birthday/|title=Cesar Chavez's 86th Birthday|website=Google|date=March 31, 2013}}</ref>

The Reuther-Chavez Award was created in 2002 by [[Americans for Democratic Action]] "to recognize important activist, scholarly and journalistic contributions on behalf of workers' rights, especially the right to unionize and bargain collectively."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Compa|first=Lance|date=March 2008|title=Labor's New Opening to International Human Rights Standards|url=https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&context=articles|journal=Cornell University ILR School}}</ref> [[Colegio Cesar Chavez]], named after Chavez while he was still alive, was a four-year "college without walls" in [[Mount Angel, Oregon]], intended for the education of Mexican-Americans, that ran from 1973 to 1983.<ref>{{cite web |last=Baer |first=April |url=http://news.opb.org/article/5340-what-cesar-chavezs-connection-oregon/ |title=What Is César Chávez's Connection To Oregon? |publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) |date=July 17, 2012 |access-date=March 5, 2013 |archive-date=July 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704113358/http://news.opb.org/article/5340-what-cesar-chavezs-connection-oregon/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> On May 18, 2011, Navy Secretary [[Ray Mabus]] announced that the Navy would be naming the last of 14 [[Lewis and Clark class dry cargo ship|Lewis and Clark-class]] cargo ships after Cesar Chavez.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/05/ap-chavez-military-ship-051811/ |title=Navy names new ship for Cesar Chavez |newspaper=Navy Times |agency=Associated Press |date=May 18, 2011 |access-date=May 18, 2011}}</ref> The [[USNS Cesar Chavez (T-AKE-14)|USNS ''Cesar Chavez'']] was launched on May 5, 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/may/03/navy-christen-and-launch-usns-cesar-chavez-may-5/ |title=Navy To Christen And Launch USNS Cesar Chavez On May 5 |publisher=KPBS |date=May 3, 2012 |access-date=October 17, 2012}}</ref>

[[File:2009-0726-CA-NationalChavezCenter.jpg|thumb|right|The National Chavez Center, Keene, California]]

In 2004, the National Chavez Center was opened on the UFW national headquarters campus in Keene by the César E. Chávez Foundation. It currently consists of a visitor center, memorial garden and his grave site. When it is fully completed, the {{convert|187|acre|km2|adj=on}} site will include a museum and conference center to explore and share Chavez's work.<ref name="NCC">[http://www.nationalchavezcenter.org/main.html What is the National Chávez Center?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091224152219/http://www.nationalchavezcenter.org/main.html |date=December 24, 2009 }}, National Chávez Center, Accessed August 8, 2009.</ref> On September 14, 2011, the [[U.S. Department of the Interior]] added the {{convert|187|acre|ha}} Nuestra Senora Reina de La Paz ranch to the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/cesar-chavez-home-designated-historic-site-.html |last=Simon |first=Richard |title=César Chávez's Home Is Designated National Historic Site |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 15, 2011 |access-date=September 16, 2011}}</ref> On October 8, 2012, President [[Barack Obama]] designated the [[Cesar E. Chavez National Monument]] within the [[National Park]] system.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/10/08/obama-announces-cesar-chavez-monument/1621245/ |title=Obama announces César Chávez monument |date=October 8, 2012 |access-date=October 8, 2012 |work=[[USA Today]] |author=Madhani, Aamer}}</ref> [[California State University San Marcos]]' Chavez Plaza includes a statue to Chavez. In 2007, [[The University of Texas at Austin]] unveiled its own Cesar Chavez statue<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.utexas.edu/2007/10/09/statue-2 |title=Cesar Chavez Statue Unveiled on West Mall of University of Texas at Austin Campus |work=UT News |publisher=The University of Texas at Austin |date=October 9, 2007 |access-date=March 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331115556/https://news.utexas.edu/2007/10/09/statue-2 |archive-date=March 31, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> on campus. The [[Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008]] authorized the [[National Park Service]] to conduct a special resource study of sites that are significant to the life of Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement in the western United States. The study evaluated the significance and suitability of sites significant to Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement, and the feasibility and appropriateness of a National Park Service role in the management of any of these sites.<ref>[https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo65451 Cesar Chavez Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment.] San Francisco, CA: National Park Service, Pacific West Region, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2012.</ref>

Cesar Chavez's birthday, March 31, is a holiday in California,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/General.aspx?id=6442455761|title=2018 State Holidays|website=www.cpuc.ca.gov|access-date=May 22, 2020|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308162510/https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/General.aspx?id=6442455761|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Denver|Denver (Colorado)]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.westword.com/news/denver-traded-for-cesar-chavez-day-but-colorado-legislature-still-honors-columbus-11282490|title=While Denver Celebrates Cesar Chavez Day, Columbus Still Afloat in Colorado|first=Patricia|last=Calhoun|date=March 25, 2019|website=Westword}}</ref> and Texas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://comptroller.texas.gov/about/holidays.php|title=State of Texas Holiday Schedule – Fiscal 2021|website=comptroller.texas.gov}}</ref> It is intended to promote community service in honor of Chavez's life and work. Many, but not all, state government offices, [[community college]]s, and libraries are closed. Many public schools in the three states are also closed. Chavez Day is an optional holiday in Arizona. Although it is not a federal holiday, President [[Barack Obama]] proclaimed March 31 "[[Cesar Chavez Day]]" in the United States, with Americans being urged to "observe this day with appropriate service, community, and educational programs to honor César Chávez's enduring legacy".<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/30/presidential-proclamation-cesar-chavez-day |title=Presidential Proclamation: César Chávez Day |date=March 30, 2011 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |access-date=March 5, 2013}}</ref> The heavily Hispanic city of [[Laredo, Texas|Laredo]], Texas, observes "Cesar Chavez Month" during March. Organized by the local [[League of United Latin American Citizens]], a citizens' march is held in downtown Laredo on the last Saturday morning of March to commemorate Chavez.<ref>Gabriela A. Trevino, "Chavez's March for Justice observed", ''[[Laredo Morning Times]]'', March 30, 2014, p. 3A</ref> In the [[Mission District, San Francisco]] a "Cesar Chavez Holiday Parade" is held on the second weekend of April, in honor of Cesar Chavez.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cesarchavezday.org/index.html |title=Cesar e. Chavez Holiday Parade & Festival 2017 |access-date=December 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619162722/http://www.cesarchavezday.org/index.html |archive-date=June 19, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Chavez was referenced by [[Stevie Wonder]] in the song "[[Black Man (song)|Black Man]]" from the 1976 album ''[[Songs in the Key of Life]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Power Grape: Cesar Chavez's Labor Legacy |url=https://igt.tilth.org/power-grapes-cesar-chavezs-labor-legacy/ |publisher=In Good Tilth |first=Andrew |last=Rodman |date=July 6, 2016 |access-date=August 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826132411/https://igt.tilth.org/power-grapes-cesar-chavezs-labor-legacy/ |archive-date=August 26, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The 2014 American film ''[[César Chávez (film)|César Chávez]]'', starring [[Michael Peña]] as Chavez, covered Chavez's life in the 1960s and early 1970s.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=What the New Cesar Chavez Film Gets Wrong About the Labor Activist |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-new-cesar-chavez-film-gets-wrong-about-labor-activist-180950355/ |magazine=Smithsonian |first=Matt |last=Garcia |date=April 2, 2014}}</ref> That same year, a documentary film, titled ''[[Cesar's Last Fast]]'', was released. He received belated full military honors from the U.S. Navy at his graveside on April 23, 2015, the 22nd anniversary of his death.<ref name="CBS-AP-2015-04-23">{{cite news|title=22 years after death, Cesar Chavez gets Navy funeral honors|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cesar-chavez-gets-navy-funeral-honors-22-years-after-death/|access-date=April 23, 2015|publisher=CBS and AP|date=April 23, 2015}}</ref> In 2015, statues of Chavez and Huerta were erected above a pizzeria in Downtown Napa, financed by a wealthy private citizen, Michael Holcomb, rather than city authorities.{{sfn|Soto|2017|pp=67–68, 74}}

There is a portrait of Chavez in the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>[http://npgportraits.si.edu/emuseumnpg/code/emuseum.asp?searchstring=constituentid/,/is/,/8634/,/false/,/true&newvalues=1&rawsearch=constituentid/,/is/,/8634/,/false/,/true&newstyle=text&newprofile=CAP&newsearchdesc=Related%20to%20C%C3%A9sar%20Estrada%20Ch%C3%A1vez&newcurrentrecord=1&module=CAP&moduleid=1 database of portraits in the National Portrait gallery – Cesar Chavez]. Accessed March 20, 2009.</ref> In 2003, the [[United States Postal Service]] honored Chavez with a postage stamp.<ref>[http://usstampgallery.com/view.php?id=5a229d43a6d3f780cf00a6d6065aebbf8bda2125 Cesar E. Chavez] U.S. Stamp Gallery</ref> A three-dimensional mural by artist [[Johanna Poethig]], ''Tiene la lumbre por dentro'' (He Has the Fire Within Him) (2000) at [[Sonoma State University]], honors Chavez and the Farm Workers Movement.<ref name="SCI98">''Sonoma County Independent'', "Chavez tribute," June 4–10, 1998.</ref><ref name="PAR99">''Public Art Review''. "Recent Projects," Winter 1999, p. 42.</ref> The [[American Friends Service Committee]] (AFSC) nominated him three times for the [[Nobel Peace Prize]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afsc.org/about/nobel/past-nominations.htm |title=Nobel Peace Prize Nominations |date=April 14, 2010 |publisher=American Friends Service Committee |access-date=March 5, 2013 |archive-date=August 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815101402/https://www.afsc.org/about/nobel/past-nominations.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

At the start of the [[presidency of Joe Biden]], a bust of Chavez was placed on a table directly behind the [[Resolute desk]] in the [[Oval Office]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Linskey|first=Annie|title=A look inside Biden's Oval Office|language=en-US|date=January 20, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/20/biden-oval-office/|access-date=January 20, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>