From streets to murals, the erasure of Cesar Chavez is fast underway in California

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It took three decades of battles and lobbying for Cesar Chavez’s name and likeness to grace hundreds of buildings, roads, parks and schools.It is taking just days for them to come down.In the two days after allegations emerged that the famed farmworker rights leader and Chicano figure sexually assaulted minors and fellow labor icon Dolores Huerta, Chavez is being erased at an unprecedented rate.

This is especially true in California, where his fight for agricultural workers’ rights was cemented in state history.In San Fernando, a completely covered Chavez statue was pulled off its pedestal and put into storage.

Murals depicting Chavez in Los Angeles were unceremoniously painted over.In Fresno, the City Council voted to strip his name from a major street — just three years after its controversial decision to rebrand it in his honor.

Soon, the old street names — Kings Canyon Road, Ventura Street and California Avenue — will return to the nearly 10-mile-long corridor.California officials and activists said they were shocked by the allegations brought forth in a New York Times investigation and felt it was essential to act right away.But the speed of the changes are unprecedented.

Reassessing place names as the dark side of history becomes more apparent is nothing new.Officials have moved in recent years to change names of other controversial figures — including those tied to the Confederacy and Father Junípero Serra.

But those have been slower and in some ways more deliberative.In the immediate hours and days following the allegations against Chavez, many officials said it was important that communities respond immediately, and redirect the focus from Chavez to the larger movement.Their efforts also send a message that such behavior is unacceptable, they say.On Thursday, L.A.

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