Bay Area places named for César Chávez in the spotlight as abuse allegations surface

SAN FRANCISCO - As several decades-old sexual abuse allegations against Latino civil rights activist César Chávez surface, some groups are calling for dozens of sites and landmarks across California to divest themselves of the labor leader’s name.

What we know:

A New York Times investigation revealed the allegations, claiming Chávez sexually assaulted fellow labor activist Dolores Huerta and at least two other women beginning as early as the 1960s.

Prominent California politicians such as San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra issued statements standing by the women who made the allegations against Chávez, and State Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare) said she was introducing legislation to change César Chávez Day to "Farmworker Day."

The late activist’s name also adorns several streets, parks, schools and other sites in the Bay Area, and the call to rename those places has been acknowledged by local figures.

"My heart is aching and crying," San Francisco District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar said on Instagram. "For all the folks calling for renaming things and cancelling things: let's center those who are harmed FIRST."

Below is a list of several Bay Area locations named after César Chávez:

Streets and parks in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Berkeley

• Cesar Chavez Street in San Francisco, which was formerly named Army Street and runs from Diamond Heights to Pier 80.
• Cesar Chavez Park in Oakland, located at 1835 38th Ave. along Foothill Boulevard in the Fruitvale neighborhood.
• Cesar E. Chavez Campus at 2825 International Blvd. in Oakland, which is shared by two elementary schools in the area.
• Cesar Chavez Park located at 11 Spinnaker Way, near the Berkeley Marina.
• Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San Jose, which the city claims is "the oldest public open space in Northern California."
• Cesar Chavez’s Family Home at 53 Scharff Ave., which he and his family lived in from 1951 to 1953.

Bay Area schools

• Cesar Chavez Elementary School, in San Francisco’s Mission District.
• Cesar Chavez Elementary School in San Jose, a little under a mile away from the Cesar Chavez Family Home.
• Cesar E. Chavez Student Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
• Cesar Chavez Student Center at San Francisco State University.
• Cesar E. Chavez School for Social Change in Santa Cruz.
• Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Hayward
• Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Salinas.
• Cesar Chavez Middle School in Union City.
• Cesar Chavez High School in Stockton.
• Cesar E. Chavez Academy in East Palo Alto

Libraries in Oakland, San Jose and Stockton

• Cesar E. Chavez Branch Library at 3301 E 12th St., which claims to have the largest Spanish collection of the Oakland Public Library system.
• Cesar E. Chavez Library at San Jose City College.
• Cesar Chavez Central Library in Stockton