César Chávez’s household calls for RFK Jr. cease utilizing pictures of the long-lasting labor chief in his marketing campaign

LOS ANGELES — The household of César Chávez needs impartial presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to cease referencing the late labor and civil rights chief on the campaign trail.

“We respectfully name upon you and your marketing campaign to stop utilizing pictures of our father to affiliate your self with him and counsel your marketing campaign’s objectives are suitable,” stated the letter signed by Chávez’s eldest son, Fernando Chávez.

“It’s our honest conviction that this affiliation is unfaithful and misleading,” he added.

The letter stated that the household would “pursue all authorized motion out there” if Kennedy didn’t halt his marketing campaign’s use of the United Farm Staff co-founder’s title and imagery.

When reached for remark, Kennedy marketing campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear stated: “RFK Jr.’s father, Robert F. Kennedy, was pal of César Chávez and a staunch supporter of farmworkers all through his life. RFK Jr. has carried on that legacy and has spent greater than 40 years combating in opposition to the poisoning of staff and shoppers.”

On Friday, forward of César Chávez Day, the Chávez household formally endorsed President Joe Biden’s re-election marketing campaign. One among César Chávez’s granddaughters, Julie Rodriguez Chavez, serves as Biden’s 2024 marketing campaign supervisor.

Dolores Huerta, Chavez’s companion in founding the UFW, has additionally remained a Biden ally.

In 1968, Kennedy’s father, former Lawyer Normal Robert Kennedy Sr., flew to California to hitch Chavez after he had engaged in a water-only quick for 25 days. Kennedy Sr., on the time working for the Democratic presidential nomination, lent appreciable political backing to the farm labor motion’s nonviolent efforts, which included a multiyear strike of the California grape trade. His relationship with Chavez was a key marker for the Democratic Social gathering’s embrace of the farmworkers’ labor rights motion. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.

Kennedy Jr. is holding an event this weekend in Los Angeles that his marketing campaign stated will “have fun the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez, pal of RFK and RFK, Jr.” The invitation for the occasion features a picture of Kennedy Sr. and Chávez.

In July 2023, at a convention for the Nationwide Affiliation of Latino Elected and Appointed Officers, Kennedy commented on his household’s relationship with Chavez.

“My father’s shut, and doubtless most necessary political alliance, which was César Chávez, who helped him win the California major over the past day of his life and remained a really, very shut pal of mine for many of my grownup life,” Kennedy stated.