(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The revelations of sex abuse allegations against labor icon Cesar Chavez – who has been dead since 1993 – have his now-former acolytes reacting.
Learning of the accusations, says State Sen. Dave Koehler (pictured) (D-Peoria), “was probably one of the saddest days I’ve had, and it’s hit everybody. There is quite a network (of people) who used to work for the union and were supporters or (otherwise) somehow involved all across the country, and I think everybody is just in grief and maybe anger.”
Koehler, who worked for Chavez’ United Farm Workers Union from 1972 to 1978, was not necessarily close with Chavez but is friends with chief accuser Dolores Huerta and says DNA evidence points to Chavez as the likely father of two of her children.
As a pastor, Koehler knows of the lessons one can take away from a story such as Chavez’. “To me, it says that your character and the morality and the ethics that you have are not something that you just portray in public. They are something that you do when no one’s looking.”
