Should Fresno rename this major street after Cesar Chavez? The idea failed 30 years ago
The Fresno City Council on Thursday will revisit a question it tackled and ultimately decided against about 30 years ago: Should Kings Canyon Road in southeast Fresno be renamed after farm labor giant Cesar Chavez?
Councilmember Luis Chavez, who represents southeast Fresno, proposed the new resolution on Thursday’s meeting agenda.
“It’s time,” Chavez said. “I really see this as a moment in Fresno’s history where we can turn the page, so to speak, on the old fights that we had.”
Controversy in the 1990s and beyond
In recent years, Fresno and other major California cities have renamed several schools, parks, and other government buildings or properties to honor the legacies of cultural icons and community leaders.
Last year, Fresno Unified named a building after Chavez’s counterpart, Dolores Huerta.
Much of the country even celebrates Cesar Chavez Day as a holiday at the end of March.
But in the 1990s, controversy broiled in Fresno for nearly a decade over how to honor the late farmworker union leader.
First, the Fresno City Council voted in 1993 to rename a 9-mile stretch of Kings Canyon Road and Ventura Avenue to Cesar Chavez Boulevard. But months later, the council reversed its vote after community outrage over the apparent effect to businesses and lack of community engagement in the renaming process. Supporters of the name change said they suspected racism was the root of the outrage.
Thousands took to the streets of Fresno to march in support of the effort.
The controversy bled into local elections and became a key issue for candidates, particularly those aiming to represent southeast Fresno.
The city hosted a day-long event in 1995 honoring Chavez to try to soothe any ill will leftover from the fight.
In the meantime, Sanger renamed a park after Chavez, and Parlier and Bakersfield put his name on schools. The city of Madera and Fresno Unified established committees to consider new names, including Chavez’s, for schools, streets, and parks.
The issue in Fresno continued to simmer into the early 2000s when political candidates brought it up during debates and candidate forums. Former Fresno Mayor Alan Autry in 2001, shortly after his term began, started a task force to consider the issue. The issue was mentioned again in 2003 when marchers commemorated Cesar Chavez Day but eventually fizzled out.
New proposal
In hopes of skirting any of the old controversies, Chavez’s proposal includes gathering neighborhood and business input through a committee before any final decision is made. The resolution on Thursday’s agenda directs the city administration to pursue the process of the name change.
Chavez already has consulted with the offices of California Sen. Alex Padilla, Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and state Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, about the potential name change, he said.
After the city administration returns from initiating the process, if passed, Chavez anticipates the name change will take effect in as little as 60 days.
Chavez said he believes Fresno is finally ready for “Avenida Cesar Chavez.” He hopes the name will not only recognize Cesar Chavez but also the essential workers in southeast Fresno who bore the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
“I think southeast is ready for this now. We’re now two generations from when this conversation happened 30 years ago,” he said. “I think this aligns with (Mayor Jerry Dyer’s) vision of ‘One Fresno.’ One Fresno means we embrace and celebrate diversity and inclusion. I think this is going to be one of those pivotal moments in our history where we turn the page, and we forget about those old fights that we had in the past, and we move together as a city.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2022 at 5:00 AM.