Just 1 Arizona senator voted against Cesar Chavez Day repeal. She still wants farmworkers honored

Tuesday should have been Cesar Chavez Day in Arizona. But, at the 11th hour, state lawmakers voted to repeal it after the New York Times published an investigation uncovering allegations of sexual abuse by the late civil rights leader.

Chavez’s name has been erased all over the country — and both Republicans and Democrats at the state capitol agreed Arizona should no longer celebrate him.

But before it was passed, some Democrats attempted to get the holiday not just repealed but replaced by a holiday celebrating farmworkers. That was rejected by Republicans, but the effort still passed nearly unanimously — save one sole no vote.

Democratic Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor about her own family’s experience as farmworkers and voted against the repeal.

Gonzales joined The Show to talk more about why.

Full conversation

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LAUREN GILGER: So, as I said, you were the sole no vote in the Senate against this measure, and it sounds like because you believed it should not just be repealed, but it should be replaced.

Some Democrats I've heard call this kind of a slap in the face to the farmworker movement in general. Is that what it felt like to you?

SALLY ANN GONZALES: Absolutely. A repeal is always erasure of what legislation has been put in place. And so repeal, for me, it was a slap in the face because Cesar Chavez Day was more than just for him, it was for the movement.

GILGER: So let's back up and talk about what you spoke about on the floor. Your parents were farmworkers. You worked in the fields with them, it sounds like. Tell us about that.

GONZALES: Yes, absolutely. I grew up in Guadalupe, and we grew up working in the fields that are now the city of Gilbert, east of Chandler, and in the West Valley as well that now has grown into housing developments. But that's where we, we used to go and work in the fields.

GILGER: What are the memories like from, from that time for you?

GONZALES: Very hard work. We, you know, we were a big family of 11 siblings and my mom and dad and, and not a lot of work in, in the community. And so that was what we had to do in order to feed the fam, put food at my, my parents put food, food on the table.

And so it was leaving when it was dark in the morning and coming home when the sun was setting. And so it was long days out working hard labor in the cotton fields, onion fields and potato fields.

GILGER: Yeah. Let me ask you about your reaction to these revelations against Cesar Chavez that have come out of late as someone who grew up doing this work, kind of grew up in this movement.

How do you think we should think about this? Like, can you separate the farmworkers movement, that civil rights movement that was so impactful and important from the person who's been credited with it for generations?

GONZALES: Absolutely. The allegations that have come up are really horrendous. But we can separate both because the work that was done by the thousands of families and people that he led to really work on, you know, fair wages, livable working conditions, better working conditions, and really, like bathrooms for women.

We didn't have bathrooms that we could go to, you know, breaks and potable water. So it was really hard work to do this.

So that's what felt like a slap in the face that all that work that these people, you know, farmworkers and families like us really struggled, worked hard, and some people in the movement were jailed, got hurt, and even some people died, unfortunately, during this struggle.

GILGER: So there was a moment on the Senate floor when you were speaking about this when you put on your mother's work gloves. And I think a lot of people were really moved by that.

Can you tell us about that?

GONZALES: Yes, we picked a lot of cotton. And the cotton branches have a really prickly. They scratch your hands when you're picking them. And I put them on because we all worked in the fields picking the cotton, but we could only afford one pair of gloves to protect one's hand. And that was for mom because she was the fastest picking cotton picker, and so we needed her to have them.

GILGER: Interesting. So let me ask you about what a Farmworkers Day would have meant to you. I mean, like, we heard arguments from some of the GOP senators that, you know, we don't celebrate every other profession or we already have Labor Day, things like that.

What would it have meant to you?

GONZALES: Well, it really would have been really the respect and the recognition that these farmworkers that work in the fields like my family did, struggled, really are resilient and are resilient because we still have farmworkers today working out in the fields in these hard conditions and elements that we recognize their contribution to our history, not only to this is Arizona's history, but also to the U.S. and that they put food on our table and for all Americans.

GILGER: The bill now to repeal Cesar Chavez Day is on Gov. Katie Hobbs' desk. She says that she will sign it.

I wonder, will you continue to push for a Farmworkers Day? Do you think that's something that could come to fruition? I know lawmakers kind of left the door open to that.

GONZALES: Yes, I will continue for that. You know, I sent a veto letter and to ask the governor to, to veto it, to send it back to us so that we can not repeal it, but rename it in recognition of the struggle and the works for all farmworkers in Arizona, just like follow the suit of California, follow the suits of the cities of Phoenix and Tucson who renamed it and continue the celebration for the farm worker movement.

GILGER: Where do you think that movement goes from here without Cesar Chavez's name attached to it with this kind of mark on it?

GONZALES: I think it goes forward because the farmworkers still are working every day to support their families, but in doing so, they are feeding and putting food on our tables every day of the year.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to an editing error, this headline has been modified to clarify that Democratic Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales was the only senator to vote against the repeal.