Revelations that the much-lionized United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez raped women and young girls has rightly horrified many. But Chavez has long been a controversial figure and the union that he headed was deeply divided. Radical writer and former farm worker Frank Bardacke discusses the two souls of the UFW, between the union staff and the militant rank and file.

Frank Bardacke, Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers Verso, 2011

“The United Farm Workers Was More Than Cesar Chavez: Sasha Lilley Interviews Frank Bardacke,” Jacobin September 29, 2021

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

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