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US Politics

Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers union, dies at 96

Her family announced the death on social media. Earlier this year she told The New York Times that Cesar Chavez raped her in 1966.

21 news outlets reported this
Liberal9 outletsCenter8 outletsConservative4 outlets
Published 3 min read
Overview

Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers union with Cesar Chavez, died Wednesday at age 96. Her family announced her death in a social media statement. It asked for privacy and said plans to honor her life would follow.

Time and Fox News report she died at home in Bakersfield, California, surrounded by close family. The Independent says the cause was cancer. Straight Arrow News also gives cancer, attributing it to family spokesman Erik Olvera, speaking to The New York Times.

Huerta is credited with coining the slogan "Sí, se puede." Barack Obama later used it in his 2008 campaign. The Independent and Time report that Obama gave her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

Earlier this year, Huerta told The New York Times that Chavez raped her in 1966. The Times was also reporting that Chavez groomed and sexually abused girls in the labor movement. Chavez died in 1993.

Outlets give these allegations very different amounts of space, from one clause to a large part of the article. The reports also give different totals for how many children Huerta had.

Three sides of the story

Liberal9 outlets

Left-leaning outlets run fuller obituaries that cover her whole career. The Independent traces her path from teacher to organizer, the Delano grape strike, boycotts and contracts. It also lists her honors and her 2016 endorsement of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.

The Guardian's text, which ABC News also ran, stresses her work on Democratic campaigns, including Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 run and the elections of Obama and Joe Biden. Time quotes her foundation's obituary on her legislative wins, such as disability insurance for farmworkers. MS NOW is shorter and centers on the family's statement and her organizing.

All four include Huerta's account of Chavez. The Guardian and MS NOW describe the 1966 rape in a vehicle. MS NOW and the Independent say two of her children resulted from her encounters with him.

The Independent and The Guardian give her reasons for staying silent. Time quotes her March statement, "My silence ends here."

Center8 outlets

Centrist outlets mostly run brief, breaking-news items built around the family's announcement. Axios, in a text also run by ABC News, and The Hill quote the family's Instagram statement. The Axios text adds that she became a "powerful kingmaker in politics" and helped lead strikes and boycotts.

BBC News calls her a US civil rights leader. It names family spokesman Erik Olvera and notes her foundation's work on immigration and voting. BBC and Straight Arrow News both report her account of Chavez and cite the New York Times investigation.

BBC says she described being "manipulated and pressured" into sex on one occasion and forced on another, and that Chavez's family said they were "devastated." Straight Arrow says the Times found Chavez also molested underage girls, some as young as 12. Straight Arrow names cancer as the cause, citing the Times.

These pieces say less about her policy achievements, honors and political ties than the longer obituaries do.

Conservative4 outlets

Right-leaning coverage in this set comes from two outlets. The New York Post puts the allegations in its headline, which says she "aired horrific rape claims" against Chavez. Most of its article covers the New York Times findings.

It gives her account of the 1966 rape in Delano and the earlier hotel encounter in San Juan Capistrano. It also names Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas, who it says the Times found Chavez abused as girls in the 1970s. It describes the fallout: canceled celebrations, removed statues and his name taken off streets and schools.

Fox News also puts the accusation in its headline. Its text is a short biography covering her teaching, her work with Chavez and the union's founding in 1962 and 1966. It notes that she later accused Chavez of sexual abuse.

Neither article lists her honors or political work.

Where outlets disagree
  • How many children Huerta had
    • The Independent (US): Emilio Huerta is one of her 13 children.
    • MS NOW: Two of her 14 children are the result of her encounters with Chavez.
All sources: 24 articles from 21 outlets

Liberal (12)

Center (8)

Conservative (4)