San Fernando begins erasing symbols of César Chávez from the city

As cities and states begin the process of taking the César Chávez name off their institutions, monuments and landmarks, the city of San Fernando took down a Chávez statue on Thursday.

The San Fernando City Council discussed what to do with the César Chávez Memorial Park and other landmarks during a special city council meeting before approving the plan to start removing his name and imagery across the city.

The bronze statue of the labor activist at Truman Street and Wolfskill Street was taken down at around 5 p.m. Thursday. A crane, which was on standby, quickly removed it from the base. The statue had been in the city for over two decades.

The memorial park also features a mural featuring Chávez. The city said it plans to talk with the artist behind the mural to make modifications to remove Chávez’s imagery but preserve the legacy of farmworkers.

The city had put a blanket over the statue Wednesday, but someone removed it overnight, according to the city manager.

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The plaque with his name is also expected to be removed. As of Thursday evening, workers covered up the plaque on the base of the statue.

The San Fernando City Council expressed solidarity with Dolores Huerta and anyone else who may have been a victim of abuse during the special meeting.

This comes as other Southern California cities started the process of deleting Chávez.

The city of Los Angeles will now call March 31 Farmworkers Day, instead of César Chávez Day.

The state of California and Los Angeles County will also consider a motion to change the name of the holiday.