Cesar Chavez Blvd? What Mayor Moonbeam and the Rainbow City Council Don’t Know About Cesar…

October 4, 2007

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The Mayor wants to leave as one of his legacies, a tangible tribute to the ever increasing Latino community in Portland. That’s why he wants to rename Interstate Avenue for the Latino labor union organizer.

From Chavez’s friend to me when I asked him if Cesar would have wanted a street named for him. Here’s his answer:

Cesar is deserving of a street, but not because he was politically correct but because he was a WWII vet and succeeded in organizing the first viable trade union among America’s most exploited workers in its most dangerous occupation (more deaths and maiming injuries than even deep mining).

As for political correctness–he wasn’t. Cesar called for secure borders most of his career (until the 80’s). In 1969, he led a march from Indio, CA, to the border to protest INS’s failure to enforce the border against illegal aliens. A decade later, he testified before Congress for control of the border to prevent illegals from flooding in and breaking strikes. In the mid-70’s, the liberals were frothing at the mouth attacking him for his stand against illegal aliens and open borders.

Today, phony instant amnesty protestors invoke his name as if he was a champion of open borders. He was the opposite.


The business owners along Interstate Avenue are upset their street is being renamed period. They’re sick of the tokenism to be sure but they’re also sick of bearing the brunt of the city’s experiments. For instance, their street has been torn up for years while the local politicos put in a light rail line called “interstate light rail line” oddly enough considering Interstate is the road they want to change into Cesar Chavez Blvd.

As you may know, 94% of Multnomah County’s growth in the past seven years is Latino and there’s no question a large percentage of these new folks are illegally here. Paying homage to a Latino leader is part of showing the “tolerance” of Portland. Their allegiance in a future election probably wouldn’t hurt, either. Since Oregon doesn’t check citizenship when registering to vote and doesn’t go back retroactively to check citizenship, no doubt a consolidation of this voting bloc is what the D’s desire.

Tell ’em where you saw it. Http://www.victoriataft.com