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Mando Rayo talks to Texas Standard host David Brown about the fallout from the sexual assault allegations against labor leader Cesar Chavez.
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Mando Rayo: If you’re an Austin foodie or a comelon like me, this is your event. Give back gig on April 29th at Skybox on 6th features, some of Austin’s most celebrated chefs Alongside the next gen of culinary talent, taste incredible dishes and support. Three outstanding local nonprofits hosted by Visit Austin Foundation.
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David Brown: it’s the Texas Standard. I’m David Brown. For many around the nation, marks 31st was supposed to be Cesar Chavez Day, but in the wake of allegations against the labor leader brought up in a New York.
Times article a few weeks back, including charges of sexual assault against women and minors. Governments in Texas and across the world. In fact, have been rushing to remove Chavez’s name from public spaces, street names, monuments, that sort of thing. There have been calls to rethink his legacy in the fallout has been swift in the Mexican American community.
Mando Rao has been thinking about all this, what it means. He’s host of the Tacos of Texas podcast. Mando, thanks for joining us today.
Mando Rayo: Thanks David, and happy to be here.
David Brown: And, and, and I, I, as we begin, I just want to make note, obviously, uh, your thoughts here reflect the way that you’ve been thinking about this, not trying to put you in a position of being a spokesperson for the Mexican American community or anything like that.
No, not at
Mando Rayo: all. Yes.
David Brown: But, but you must have had some really deep reactions, uh, feelings about this.
Mando Rayo: I, I did. I, I do. I grew up with it in schools. It’s everywhere. The street names, the murals, the, the statues for Mexicanos and, and Mexican Americans here in the United States. That’s kind of like, you know, the icon that we used to kind of look towards of like, Hey, I can do something bigger than myself.
And so when these allegations came through, um, you know, I was shocked, disbelief, sad. Because of what happened, but also not surprising because of the culture of machismo and power. I would say within the us the what the culture is in the US but also what the culture is, you know, in the machista. Of the Mexican culture too.
’cause I grew up with that too. And we all kind of have to find our way to shed some of those things that have been passed on to us by gen generations.
David Brown: Do you think that’s, that’s common, A lot of people sort of saying, we, we need to rethink this or, or not so much?
Mando Rayo: As a man that grew up with very, very traditional father figures and man, I think, I don’t know.
I don’t know how deep it goes. I know that I, mm-hmm. I have, I have, obviously, you know, I have a daughter. It, it really kind of rings true for me ’cause I want, what I want is to create a world where women can feel safe and they can feel seen where movement leaders aren’t. Held up as idols, but it’s more about like mm-hmm.
The cause or the movement. Uh, you know what I’ve actually, for the most part I’ve seen that, yeah. That there is a reckoning. There is, there is a reckoning. Right. But at the same time, I’ve also seen like. This, this whole, uh, idea around blaming the survivors and questioning like, well, why, why did they take so long to come forward?
And, and, you know, when you don’t have that empathy, that connection with people that have gone through trauma, that’s probably gonna be your first reaction. And that’s rooted in machismo.
David Brown: You know, you, you alluded to this earlier, but I, I wanna sort of dig in a little bit deeper, thinking about Chavez as not just a man, but as a, as a symbol, as as a figurehead mm-hmm.
For a movement that was much bigger than Cesar Chavez. What do you see these events, um, meaning for the lasting legacy of the farm workers movement?
Mando Rayo: You know, it, it, it’s hard. It’s, it, we’re at a, at a time where there’s a lot of things happening to the Latino communities across the us There’s a lot of hurt.
And now we have to reckon with our own, in internal view of our own heroes, right. And, and you know, I think that that’s kind of like the conversation that we need to have as communities, right? Mm-hmm. We need to have conversations around what does this mean when we prop up one individual versus the movement versus, you know, when you think about the work that Dolores Huta and other organizers did.
And it wasn’t just him. Right? It wasn’t just him,
David Brown: right?
Mando Rayo: So we need to prop up and uplift these, the the people in the movement. We need to uplift women and we need to believe women when harm comes to them.
David Brown: One of the reasons I ask that about the legacies, I note that Governor Abbott has asked that the teaching of Cesar Chavez be, um, halted altogether.
Mm-hmm. Do you have any concerns about that directive?
Mando Rayo: You know, I think, I don’t think that comes from a place of doing the best for our communities. I think, you know, there’s a history there of, of Governor Abbott. Being anti-Latino, anti-immigrant, anti DEI, uh, and, and just voter disenfranchisement, right?
And so I don’t think it comes from a place of like, oh, let, let me help the Latino community. If you really wanted to support us, it would do it in different way that was more meaningful then. Then let’s talk about, you know, farm workers. Let’s talk about the movement versus also trying to just dismantle.
Uh, not only the legacy, but the history, you know, and then part of this process is not just, you know, uh, it’s not an erasure of our history. It’s just like not propping up one person for the work of thousands of people and generations of work.
David Brown: You know, I, I’ve noticed the speed at which we’ve seen statues covered up and streets renamed.
Um mm-hmm. But it’s worth noting the rapidity with which there’s been a, a, a, a reaction with, uh, the covering of statues and, and, um. Action to rename streets, uh, that were formerly named Cesar Chavez Avenue and that sort of thing. I think what that stands in stark contrast to is, um, perhaps not so swift action for others who have faced similar allegations.
Uh, what do you make of that?
Mando Rayo: You know, I think, um, part of that is people’s immediate reaction. Uh, we’ve seen so much hurt in our communities that nothing has been done, and then, but when it happens to our own community, within our own community, that’s a natural response. I think it’s an example of when people are just tired.
Wanting to do something and swiftly, right. Uh, I think there definitely needs to be a dialogue around what does that mean? Okay. How do we, how do we have a conversation around not, not truly erasing the work that that has been done, and naming them, naming the organizers, naming people, Dolores Huerta and, and everybody that’s part of that movement.
Um, that, you know, all of a sudden people feel that their history’s being erased. Right?
David Brown: Mm.
Mando Rayo: So, lift up those other stories that have been undertold.
David Brown: How do you see the community moving forward at this point? Uh, Amanda.
Mando Rayo: Uh, it’s hard. It is hard. You know, I think it’s gonna take some time and like I said, you know, we need to have deep discussions around what does this mean about our own community?
And as we look at idols and heroes, how do we kind of come to terms with that? But as well as like how we can uplift, you know, the mujeres in our community and believe survivors.
David Brown: Mondo RAOs, host of the Tacos of Texas podcast. Mondo, thanks so much for joining us.
Mando Rayo: Thanks, David. Appreciate it.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
